The TP Culture Blog

At par with Estrada, et. al.

2007-11-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

With GMA's pardoning of Erap, here is a list of new things could officially get away with (courtesy of Jim Paredes, of the acclaimed APO Hiking Society and his awesome blog):

But to be fair, let's allow the same right given to Erap to every Filipino. That's right. Let the Republic of the Philippines allow all Filipino citizens to enjoy the right to unlawfullness equally. If we can't be equal in the eyes of the law, let's bend the rules. Plainly, we should all be allowed at least one crime and a guaranteed pardon that we can 'legally' commit. Let's make this official. Calling Mar Roxas, Villar, the Catholic Bishops and all who supported the pardon and are 'happy for Erap", give a litsen. This new idea could be your legislative coup d' grace. It is the only way to save the joke we call 'democracy' and 'rule of law' since we refuse to do the right thing.

Here's a list of crimes all Filipinos should be allowed to do even just once.

a) steal billions from the government (like the Marcoses, Erap Estrada and many others)

b) do not pay taxes and behest loans (like so many we know, JDV, et al)

c) subvert the government through coups, armed rebellion, etc. (like Honasan, Enrile, CPP-NPA, MILF, Trillanes and all who have done so and are still scott free)

d) murder (like what some congressmen and senators, and other public officials have done). But to be fair, government officials should not be exempt targets by regular citizens, since they do same to each other anyway.

Please excuse the mess

2007-06-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know that the blog looks messed up right now. I'm looking into it. It's probably a problem with the template I'm using.

Hope you're all having a great summer!

Some results

2007-05-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

It's been about a week and a half since the Philippine midterm elections. They're still tabulating the votes for the national races and some of the local ones. In Philippine elections, most if not all of the votes (save internet voting in Singapore) are done manually, and most national races aren't officially decided until about a month afterwards. This unfortunately increases the prospect of cheating and corruption, especially in the provincial elections.

Here's some interesting results, though:

A Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Eddie Panlilio, has been elected governor of Pampanga, From this Inquirer article on 5/18, he will become "the 26th governor of Pampanga since 1901. His followers said they would call him Among Governor. Among is a term of endearment for priest. His parishioners in Betis, Guagua called Panlilio "Among Ed."
According to the latest NAMFREL (National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections - a electoral watchdog group) tally, senatorial candidates from the Genuine Opposition (GO) are currently dominating the elections, with 8 of its 12 candidates in the "Magic 12". Two candidates in the "Magic 12" are from Team UNITY (the administration group), while the last 2 are independent candidates.
South Cotabato congressional candidate Manny Pacquiao was defeated by a large margin (139,061 to 75,908) by the incumbent, Darlene Antonino-Custodio. According to this article, Pacquiao said, “I have accepted the results. I just hope that she will fulfill her promises to help the poor. If that happens, I will be happy, it would be like I won too.”

It's election time again

2007-05-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

Go to this site for the latest updates on the Philippine midterm elections. Looks like the cheating has already begun:

From the site:
---

Foreign observers claim to have witnessed blatant cheating in Lanao del Sur and disenfranchisement in Nueva Ecija, according to the report of delegates of the People's International Observers' Mission (IOM).

Vote-buying and coaching of voters inside election precincts were rampant in Marawi City, said Jessica Tulloch, IOM spokesperson for the Lanao del Sur team. Tulloch said they saw poll watchers sit beside voters and dictate candidates' names to be written on the ballots.

Members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) were also seen powerless, as they “practically gave up policing the precincts with just anybody entering and interacting with voters,” Tulloch added.

The IOM also witnessed the following:

1)Voters had more than one finger that had been marked with indelible ink that was easily washed with soap and water.

2) Voters freely admitted to having voted several times. Voters were seen being paid a minimum of P50 for every vote for municipal and city councilors, and P2, 000 per vote for mayoralty candidates.

3) Minors as young as 15 years old were allowed to vote.

4) Peso bills were seen stapled on sample ballots and campaign leaflets being passed on to the voters through window grills.

5) Ball pens were seen in voting booths with stickers with candidates' names written on them.

6) Voters’ lists were missing outside the precincts, and no Secrecy Folders and list of candidates for national and local positions were reported.
Posted by : Erwin Oliva at Comelec in Manila

TFP VI: Sandbowl Clip Series 2

2007-04-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

second (4/18 edit: and last - just put the last one up) in a series.

"Verse About Tony"

"The Race"

(updated 4/18) "Carlos and Percy Attack"

TFP V: Sandbowl Clip Series 1

2007-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

first in a series. (my last PACN clip will go up by the end of this week)

"Ian and the Hole 1"

"Ian and the Hole 2"

"The Screen Name Song"

VOTE OR DIE, 2007

2007-04-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

TFP IV: PACN Clip Series - "The Apartyment (DPS)"

2007-04-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

third in a series.

TP YOUTUBE TRIVIA

2007-04-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Trivia

First Meeting Skit

- Ian had a bad sunburn from E-board games the weekend before filming, so he was shirtless and shiny at the beginning of the video because of the aloe vera on his back.

- It took more than 10 takes to get Ian to say “Balita” incorrectly.

- Ian wasn’t really giggling about meeting Camille, he was laughing at himself. The clip of him giggling wasn’t actually supposed to be in the video- the editor accidentally put the wrong video down, but thought that the effect was cute... so she kept it.

- TP Member Kathrina Sarmiento’s family had a cameo in the video, before she actually joined Troy Phi.

- Ian’s myspace is real. He typed “Finding Nemo, b*tch!!!1!” twice before he thought it looked right.

- Ian didn’t know that the camera was recording him while he was dancing shirtless.

- The vending machine that Ian meets Cristina at was broken into two days after filming.

- Ian is actually really good at “The Nasty.”

- Ian’s tears were authentic. It took him 5 minutes to produce the real tears.

- Nim made his debut as “the bakla” in the first skit/video. He had to address rumors after the skit/video was shown.

ARAY KO, Episode 1

- Albert and Chris weren’t supposed to be in the episode. They were having lunch at Carl’s Jr when Carlos and the camera crew came to film.
- In another clip, Albert asks an innocent bystander how to get to Jollibee… to which he answers, in an Australian accent, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”

- The beggar at McDonald’s was completely not scripted. Like, really not scripted at all.
- The woman in the box at Wendy’s listed everything chicken on the menu after Carlos asked for a “chickenjoy.”
- The police were actually really curious about what Jollibee was.

Aray Ko! “Cribs”

- There was actually another “Cribs” segment planned from the Greenhouse (Zeta Phi Rho House), but when the video was played back, all that was visible was a shadowed figure, Zeta Phi Rho’s letters, and an open door. Upon later investigation, apparently there’s a “Greenhouse ghost.”

TFP III: PACN Clip Series - "Binaylan"

2007-04-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

second in a series.

TFP II: PACN Clip Series -"Mantoñes de Seda"

2007-04-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

first in a series.

TFP I: The My Sassy Girl Wikispace page

2007-04-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

Perhaps this will ease PACN withdrawals just a bit...

Please help me edit the My Sassy Girl page on our Wikispace...while everything's still fresh in your mind!

Email me if you want to gain editing rights to the Wiki if you don't have it already...thanks!

Erika & Celeste @ Kababayan LA 3/12

2007-03-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Watch as Erika & Celeste are interviewed by Jannelle So in the March 12 episode of Kababayan LA!

You can watch Kababayan LA weekdays on channel 18 KSCI @ 4:30pm.

Valentine's Day (and the lack of divorce law) in the Philippines

2007-02-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

...Just wanted to share with you all a Reuters article that I found today. Happy Valentine's Day!

---

Filipinos celebrate Valentine's Day discreetly

By Karen Lema Mon Feb 12, 10:17 PM ET

The days before and after February 14 are red-hot for the Philippines' motel industry.

In this largely Roman Catholic country, Valentine's Day is spent with wives and husbands. But its eve and aftermath are reserved for lovers.

"The busiest days for us are February 13 and 15," said Steve Perez, assistant business manager of Manila's Victoria Court..."

(go see for yourself here)

"...a drive-in hotel that specializes in discreet reservations.

The budget hotel, which has a lady with a finger over her lips as its logo, has 106 rooms and they are all occupied during what Filipinos jokingly refer to as days for "No.2 or No.3" Love, marriage and children are heavily emphasized in this Southeast Asian country, where syrupy ballads top the charts and Valentine's Day is celebrated in a red and pink riot of roses, hearts and cupids.

But despite widespread devotion to the Catholic faith, extramarital affairs are often accepted in the Philippines, where divorce is illegal and a macho culture encourages men to father several families.

Sociologists say hundreds of thousands of people remain locked in loveless unions and seek relationships elsewhere.

"If I had an option I would leave my wife," said a 29-year-old man, who asked not to be named. He said he had been having an affair for seven months.

The Philippines and Malta are the only countries in the world without a divorce law. Many Filipinos are opposed to such legislation, fearing it could disrupt family life and their religious beliefs.

Couples can file for annulments but they must convince the courts that their marriage was void to begin with. They can also aim for a legal separation but that would prevent them from re-marrying.

Faced with such hurdles, most unhappy married couples stick it out. Some look for love elsewhere.

MISTRESS ETIQUETTE

While men have been the traditional protagonists of affairs, Filipino women, particularly in the more permissive urban milieux, are increasingly taking the lead.

"Before, women coming in to our hotel would hide their faces but now they have become more open," Perez said. "Sometimes the women are even the one on the driver's seat."

An etiquette book for mistresses, written by Julie Yap Daza (she wrote it in 1994; she also wrote Manners for Moving Up, a "Filipino guide to the art of social climbing"), a television talk-show host and columnist, is a bestseller at local bookstores.

Daza tells mistresses they are "holiday orphans," who must be "ready to give up Valentine's Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Holy Week and even her man's birthday." For as Rule No.1 in her book says, "Mistress is not Mrs. Know your place."

Celebrities or politicians changing partners with the regularity of square dancers have been a staple of Philippine gossip columns and a wandering eye is not a liability on the election stump.

Deposed president Joseph Estrada was swept to power in 1998 despite fathering children with several women.

A number of divorce bills have been filed in Congress but none have succeeded due to opposition from priests and Christian groups.

"Reality tells us that there are many failed, unhappy marriages across all Filipino classes," said Lisa Maza (of the Gabriela Women's Party), author of a divorce bill.

"Many couples especially from the marginalized sectors, who have no access to courts, simply end up separating without the benefit of legal processes."

Maza's bill proposes to allow, among others, the much-abused excuse - "irreconcilable differences" - as grounds to end a marriage.

The 5,000 plus annulment cases pending in courts show that there are many couples who are desperate to get out of failed unions, Maza said.

But sociology Professor Josephine Aguilar said divorce was not the solution.

"Everything could be resolved through proper communication," said Aguilar, who got married last year.

"Couples should not just accept the pluses of their partners but also their minuses because when you accept that, you will understand the idea of a perfect marriage."

A 46-year-old father of two, interviewed by Reuters, agreed. The man, who asked not to be identified, said he will not miss the subterfuge around Valentine's Day so he can slip off for an assignation with his mistress.

His affairs devastated his family and eventually "guilt" seeped in.

"I chose to stay with my family because it was the right thing to do, not just morally, but for everyone to be happy," he said. "I have learned not to expect anything from my wife and just accept her as a gift from God."

Going Home

2007-02-05T22:11:00.000-08:00

by Isabelle H. Lacson

I often refer to a normal summer vacation as “going home.” As if my life were backwards, like going to college is a vacation and flying across the Pacific Ocean to a tropical country is returning to what I perceive as “normal.” But it is. Although I do have a physical house in Los Angeles County, “home” to me will always be this little condominium in Makati, the Downtown LA of Manila. What is it like for a native Manilan to return "home" after months of American exposure?

Albeit what I like to call the “LAX Struggle” that involves a long line of confused Filipinos, numerous boxes with addresses in bold letters (BARANGAY MAYTUNAS, LOT 7, BLOCK 3) and that completely violating security procedure that involves not only taking off your shoes and socks, but taking your laptop out of your overpacked bag and putting it back in; going home is always (and I did pull out a dictionary to find the perfect word) nice.

Besides the initial comments of “you’re so fat” (thanks Dad) or “marunong ka pa mag-Tagalog?” (thanks Tito), going home makes me realize how different I’ve become. The last time I left for LA from Manila, one of my best friends texted me minutes before I boarded the plane and said, “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.” And I only pray that he was talking about vertical growth, not horizontal growth. Oh, you know what I mean. But for thirteen hours on the plane to LA, I contemplated on his little statement and rested in the fact that change is inevitable and my life’s locale contributed to my maturity.

Going home almost begs for endless comparison. One thing I never fail to compare is the American and Philippine legal system. Is there a legal drinking age in the Philippines? Can you buy cigarettes if you’re 15 years old? Are there road rules? Are all these things implicit? Well if there are binding laws for these things, then I, personally, would be doing time in jail. One of my favorite stories that involves the Philippines and its justice system is the case of one of my friends from high school, who was 13, crazy, and thirsty. She went to the neighborhood 7-11 and asked to purchase an entire case of beer, and the store owner did not think twice and sold the little girl in front of him in braces, glasses, and unbrushed hair the beer. Talk about trying to make a buck. Or peso.

Going home is almost like stepping into an unending party. There is no concept of time in Manila (perhaps this is why we’re always late?), it could be 10 at night and I’d be racing to Quezon City for a second dinner with my friends. Some malls will still be open, and we could stand in front of the movie theater line and pick which past-10 o’clock showing we would catch. I could drag myself to Greenbelt at 11 and pay PhP 99 to sing all night long in the Karaoke bars, and grab some Starbucks on the way out in the wee hours of the morning. Everything is open later, leaving much more room to just go out and have fun. My theory is: BECAUSE we are always late, establishments are forced to stay open late to accommodate and make some sort of profit.

But why do I go home? And why do I consider the Philippines my home? Is there something seductive about returning to traffic, poverty, retarded pop songs (see: Boom Tarat Tarat, Otso-Otso, and all their cousins), and unbelievable inefficiency?

Well, I think a home is defined by who lives in it. I set foot in NAIA Terminal 2 and I see my dad waving at me from the airport window. I drive to San Juan to see my lolo and lola, and the familiar baby photos of me and my cousins are perched on the piano, as if none of us ever left home. I go to the same silly children’s birthday parties that serve the customary (I swear, it is written in the Children’s Party Bible somewhere) spaghetti with hotdogs and barbecue to be with the cousins I see only once in a blue moon. I go out every night to the same restaurants to be with the friends who have known me since I had braces and poor taste in music. I go to the universities that I could have attended to see what my friends’ lives are like. I make it a point to visit my friends’ parents not only because food always happens to taste better outside your own home, but because in Manila (and I'm not just saying this), there are no boundaries as to who is your family.

The cliché answer to the question: “what do you love most about your home?” could easily be found in magazines and movies. I noticed that a popular answer is that at home, you could wear the ugliest clothes and watch TV, and no one will say anything (a lot of celebrities say this for some reason). But for me, going home to Manila is like stepping into another, more comfortable version of the world. Cars are slower, people aren’t rushing, there’s more freedom and the only thing you worry about is who you haven’t seen yet and how much more time you have before you have to go back to the U.S. Everything in that world is close to perfect because the ones who are dearest to me exist in it, and for a brief period -- maybe weeks or months -- I feel like I'm home.

Regarding the Manila Film Center

2007-01-29T14:11:00.000-08:00

(from GMA TV journalist Howie Severino's blog)

While recently reading the Jessica Hagedorn novel/play Dogeaters (TP is watching the play on Feb. 7 BTW), I noticed that there were several mentions of the infamous building in Manila called the Manila Film Center.

During the second half of the martial law imposed by the Marcos regime, both Marcos and his wife Imelda wanted to build the Manila Film Center in order to enhance the Philippines' reputation in the world. The inagural Manila International Film Festival was to be held in the year 1982, and this Center would host that festival. However, delays hampered its completion, and Imelda wanted this Center done before the festival, so as the deadline loomed, the construction workers were working as quickly as they could to complete the building.

On November 17, 1981, the upper scaffold collapsed and sent workers falling into wet cement. A witness said that some of the workers were impaled on upright steel bars.

Now here is where it gets creepy and ambiguous.

It's been said that since the film festival was about to happen and that the recovery of all the bodies would take too long, Imelda ordered that the construction work continue despite the accident and that the bodies be covered by cement. The number of dead differs depending on who you talk to differs, but it has reached as high as 169 people.

The Film Center was eventually completed, and the festival was held. During opening night, Imelda "strode on stage in a Joe Salazar black and emerald green terno with a hemline thick with layer upon layer of peacock feathers" (http://manalang.com/philippines/manila/manila_film_center.html).

So is there any proof that this actually happened? Or is this just an urban myth?

No news agencies covered the accident when it happened. Perhaps the Marcos regime purposely had the media not report it. This was during martial law, after all. Perhaps the number of dead has been exaggerated as the story spread throughout the Philippines during Marcos's regime and after he was ousted.

In his blog, GMA TV journalist Howie Severino writes the following:

...After numerous return trips to the film center's dark and eery catacombs, futile efforts to find a paper trail, and interviews with survivors and loved ones of dead construction workers, my half-baked conclusion: Not more than a dozen died (we heard figures as high as 169, which was based on an Inquirer account of a spirit questor expedition years ago), and NONE of them left behind in the Manila Film Center. Why are you surprised?

First of all, we couldn't find anyone who knew anyone in there, including relatives. If there really were dozens of skeletons still encased in cement in the film palace, we are almost sure we would have been able to trace loved ones, or they would have found us. The construction workers who survived the incident did not know anyone, nor did they know anyone who knew anyone missing in the building.

We know from years of working in media that the relatives of missing people are extremely persistent and vocal, driven as they are by a human desire for closure on their grief. I think this would have been the case even if they were bribed by Imelda, which is one theory for why they have been so quiet through all these years. I have my own theory: the missing don't exist.

One witness told us that workers cleared the bodies and the debris from the theater floor before resuming the construction, which was finished the same day that international stars like Jeremy Irons and George Hamilton waltzed in...

I guess that the only way to find out what really happened is to excavate the foundations of the Manila Film Center to find the bodies of any missing workers. That's probably not going to happen any time soon, however. The building is still being used, despite the fact that a lot of Filipinos stay away from that building because they think the building is haunted by the ghosts of the dead workers.

After the Marcos regime, the Manila Film Center became the government's official passport office during the Aquino administration. Then, an earthquake struck in 1990, cracking the stairs and the road outside. The building was then pretty much abandoned until 2001...

(again, from Severino's blog)

...when the Center became home to the "Amazing Philippine Theatre", a theatrical show featuring LGBT actors. A Youtube clip can be seen below:

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Film_Center_scaffolding_collapse
http://www.gmapinoytv.com/sidetrip/blog/index.php?/archives/42-The-Manila-Film-Center-mystery-A-ghostly-place-or-an-urban-legend.html
http://manalang.com/philippines/manila/manila_film_center.html

This and VAT

2007-01-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

The following post about Philippines' VAT (Value-Added Tax) was written by Isabelle Lacson:

I made a purchase at Commons the other day with fellow TP-er, Jeff Okita. As I juggled my chicken pesto, napkins, and wallet, I managed to whip out my USC ID to avoid the big bad sales tax implemented on all Californians (and those who go to Commons hungry and ID-less). The lady who beamed at my black Styrofoam box asked me to pay up my $6.25, and I did so with a smile because I saved an estimated 50 cents. If one day I am interviewed on how I made my first million, I will attribute it to my being practical like this (“I brought my student ID with me everyday to school and look at me now!”).

By virtue of the CIA World Factbook, the 2005 estimate of Philippine GDP growth has been proclaimed 4.8%, well above the rest of the pack of the international community. Upon my most recent return to the homeland over Christmas break, I found that hard to believe. Until I encountered the VAT (value-added tax). The Philippine Department of Finance (DoF) implemented the VAT last November, and its effects have been quite mixed. Usually, economic growth alludes to bigger and better things for a country, but in this case, the DoF has single-handedly raised the GDP growth of the entire nation without changing the development of the economy as a whole.

I had my first taste of the VAT when I made a trip to Powerplant Mall in the upscale area of Rockwell in Makati. I thumbed through the clothes in one of my favorite apparel stores, and began purchasing things on impulse (my excuse to my dad later on: I just wanted to make sure my international credit card worked). I noticed a whopping 12% tax on the bottom of my receipt. I asked the saleslady what the hell it was and why it was on my receipt. She explained that the reasonable(?) PhP 2,450 for one of my items qualified for PhP 300 worth of VAT.

I was surprised, mostly because in all my years of living in the Philippines, I had never paid tax for things that I had purchased. I remembered the positive report on the GDP growth later on, and almost smiled at myself for contributing to my country’s economic growth. However, taking the estimated minimum wage into consideration, PhP 275 per day, there are probably a considerable number of people in the Philippines feeling the negative effects of the new VAT regime. Although the VAT has been solely responsible for pushing the peso down to about PhP 48 to the dollar (the lowest in six years), I couldn’t help but notice that nothing in the country has changed outside the low exchange rate…

I was not expecting a significant change upon my arrival. The inherently Pinoy attitude of “bahala na” (a longer way of saying “whatever”) will not make its exit soon. But, I was expecting some sort of change to manifest itself in the economy, what with the rosy depictions of growth that several government officials profess. In recent years, several people close to me have made their way into public office, and as I watch their lives improve (how they do this, I do not even want to know) I cannot help but think about those whose lives are getting worse.

So for those of you traveling to the Philippines over the summer, consider this a travel advisory. Pack on the extra peso to offset the raised prices on… well, almost everything. Although, yes, some items are cheaper in the Philippines compared to U.S. prices, you will find that your vacation money cannot hold as much as it used to. The VAT policy is likely to stay until a) the budget deficit is cured or b) people get so poor that violent unrest starts plaguing the nation, whichever comes first. Until then, I’m going to contemplate on innovative ways to budget my precious peso.

edit by celeste-
----

More information on the VAT:

It was implemented in 1988
The rate was raised from 10% to 12% in February 2006

To put this into perspective:

CA's tax rate is between 7.25% to 8.75% (the highest in the USA)
NJ's tax rate is 3.5% to 7%
Hawaii has no sales tax, but excise taxes of up to 4%

Thanks Isabelle!

sources: (http://www.usig.org/countryinfo/phillipines.asp)

What's in a name?

2007-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Did you ever think that just because you had a Hispanic surname, one of your ancestors must have been from Spain? But you look around, and there's nothing mestizo about your relatives.

I'm a Hernandez. Since "Hernandez" means son of Hernando, and I always thought there was a guy named Hernando that linked all the Hernandez's in Mexico, Spain, and Philippines together. In actuality, my last name most likely was arbitrarily assigned from a torn off page of a book.

The Spanish were having hard time with taxation as many of the newly-Catholicized Filipinos took Catholic symbols as surnames creating an abundance of Santos' and de la Cruz's with no appropriate relation. Filipinos also went P.Diddy with the names as a means of tax evasion. In 1849, the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos was produced to help the Spaniards with their bookkeeping.

From the book, each Filipino family was assigned a surname, in an apparently systematic process. There's debate if each province actually received the whole book if not sections. Some towns have historic last names all beginning with the same letter. It appeared all the northern provinces like in Ilocos and Cagayan got surnames from A to C while surnames from W to Z went to Southern Mindanao.

Now these surnames like Gregorio, Fernandez, Perez, etc. indicate these families come from Spanish conquered lands. There are remote areas where indigenous names like Macapagal, Pacquiao, & Samiley, Ople have survived the westernization. Apparently as well, some indigenous names were are part of the catalog of names. It's also here to note that the Muslim influence has brought in some religious last names of Islam similarly to when Spain brought Christianity.

Chinese Filipinos

Nowadays, one syllable last names like Lim, Tan, & Sy aren't so bad for business. Early merchants / future Chinese Filipinos fit in with their multiple syllabic counterparts by taking on names of a respectful elder or ancestor and adding the suffix -co or -son. -Co was a respectful title; I would compare it to the use of "Kuya". (I don't know if I'm correct.) But the triple-syllable last name like in Yujico & Cotangco is something distinctly Chinese Filipino. Also Chinese-derived, Dizon, Lacson, Ayson are examples of the two syllable surnames ending in -son or -zon which have strong prevalence in Pampanga.

Now indigenously, second names used to be taken from children. Here is Berto father of Pito, and such and such. The traditional naming standard currently is for the children to take on the mother's surname as the middle name.

Sources

STATE OF CALAMITY DECLARED

2006-12-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

A state of national calamity has been declared by Philippines' president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The archipelago has been hit hard with 4 typhoons the past 4 months. However, Typhoon Durian (Typhoon Reming, in the Philippines), has been the most devastating; its devastating winds and rains have struck the recently erupted Mayon volcano. Through massive flooding and volcanic mudslides, the typhoon and volcano combination has left thousands injured, missing, or dead, and has displaced tens of thousands more, and affected hundreds of thousands throughout the Philippines.

apl's BEBOT: FRONTPAGE OF LA TIMES

2006-11-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Ryan Rubianes for the heads-up!

Anyway, the article appeared in the Column One section of today's front page, which is usually geared towards the minorities, ethnicities, and smaller stories of Los Angeles.

Filipinos' hip-hop anthem

Allan Pineda of the Black Eyed Peas honored his homeland with a rap in Tagalog. 'Bebot' has become a surprise phenomenon.
By David Pierson, Times Staff Writer
November 22, 2006

Hey, man, all of you listen

to me Here comes the real Filipino

Came from the barrio — Sapang Bato

Went to L.A. and labored

In order to help my mother

Because life is so hard

But the disposition's still bright.

---

SO begins the story of Allan Pineda, a member of the hip-hop band the Black Eyed Peas, who two years ago wrote a song about his journey from a poverty-stricken district in the Philippines to Los Angeles' Atwater Village.

The lyrics were personal, written entirely in Tagalog, the dominant language of the Philippines. Pineda wanted to recount his experience as a Filipino American but wasn't sure how much the song would resonate with others — especially the Black Eyed Peas' teenage fan base.

The song, "Bebot" (Tagalog slang for "hot chick"), appeared on the Black Eyed Peas' multiplatinum-selling album, "Monkey Business," released in June 2005. The album contained several chart-toppers, but "Bebot" — as Pineda expected — wasn't one of them.

But over the last year, "Bebot" has become a phenomenon in ways Pineda, 31, said he could never have imagined.

The musical story of his immigrant experience has become an unlikely rallying cry in California's Filipino American community.

With its choppy beat and shouting chorus of "Filipino! Filipino!," the song became a showstopper at weddings and birthday parties. Teenagers — many of whom don't even speak Tagalog — choreographed dance routines to it.

But it was the lyrics, not the beat, that had lasting resonance.

The Filipino American community is famous for putting its cultural identity behind assimilation. Though they're the second-largest Asian group in California behind the Chinese, they have never established set "Filipino" neighborhoods — the equivalent of Monterey Park for Chinese Americans or Little Saigon for Vietnamese Americans. There is a historic Filipinotown west of downtown L.A., but the U.S. census found that less than 15% of its residents are actually Filipino.

Many Filipinos arrive in the United States speaking English, immediately making assimilation easier.

"Part of the problem is we blend in so well," said Winston Emano, an executive at an L.A.-based public relations firm and a community activist. "We have a rapid rate of assimilation. Put a Filipino in Antarctica, and in one month they'll be one with the penguins."

For Emano and others, "Bebot" is a vibrant reminder of their cultural past, an easy-to-digest history of their shared experience.

"It's a cultural bridge," Emano said. "Kids say, 'Hey, he's talking in my parents' language.' "

Pineda was surprised by the passions "Bebot" stirred. So, early this year, he financed two music videos for the song.

The first paid homage to Stockton's Little Manila, which was the largest Filipino community outside the Philippines in the 1930s and '40s. It showed how migrant workers toiled to provide money for their families back home and offered a glimpse of the racism early immigrants encountered.

The second video showed Pineda's early days hanging out in L.A. with his bandmates and mostly Filipino American friends.

The videos were big hits among Filipinos, who plastered Web links to them on MySpace and YouTube.

But Pineda now had a bigger goal. Though his record label felt the videos had limited prospects because they were sung in Tagalog, he hoped to prove the label wrong. He wanted the videos to air on MTV and VH1.

"There's still a struggle," Pineda said. "We just got to keep trying."

When eating, we use our hands

What we eat, chicken adobo

The balut being sold at the

corner

Share the glass already

My friend, let's start drinking.

PINEDA grew up in a slum outside Angeles City on the island of Luzon. His mother was Filipino. He never met his father, who was an American in the U.S. Air Force, Pineda said.

His first connection to the U.S. came when a charity group found him an American sponsor, who started sending him the equivalent of 7 cents a day to help pay for food. Pineda had problems with his eyes, so his sponsor — a lawyer named Joe Ben Hudgens — wanted to adopt him so he could receive better medical care in the U.S.

His mother agreed, and after seven years of waiting, he arrived to live with Hudgens, a deputy Los Angeles County counsel. It was 1989; Pineda was 14.

Hudgens was living in the Wilshire district at the time but decided to look for a neighborhood where there were mostly Filipinos. The best he could find was a block in Atwater Village, a diverse section of northeast L.A. that included some Filipinos.

"I didn't want him to be lonely. I suppose I was thinking, 'Let the neighborhood help raise him like they do in the Philippines,' " said Hudgens, now 69.

Hudgens, a single parent who spent long hours at work, encouraged Pineda to have friends over any time. Soon, they were practicing rap and dancing.

"I still don't quite know how all this happened," Hudgens said of Pineda's fame. "He has a performer's instinct. He loves to entertain."

Pineda attended John Marshall High School, which, like the surrounding neighborhood, was a mix of cultures. Despite the cultural shift, he was thrilled to be in America. By 16, he was immersing himself in the local hip-hop scene. He went to parties at homes and nightclubs across Southern California, where he made connections that led to the formation of the Black Eyed Peas. The group rose to prominence in the late 1990s with an upbeat brand of rap and stunning dance moves. Their multiculturalism — Filipino, Latino and black members — set them apart.

But Pineda said that despite the success, he still felt a yearning to write and sing about his culture.

He wanted to pen a song about his roots that people could dance to. It took him about two days in the band's sound studio in Atwater Village. Bandmate Will.I.Am, the group's producer, came up with the beats and started Pineda on his way by chanting "bebot, bebot, bebot" in the cadence familiar to fans today.

He struggled with the right words, so he called a friend's mother for translations.

"It was a hard task," Pineda said. "I'd never written a rap in Tagalog before. It's hard to rhyme."

The song is filled with cultural references central to Filipino American life: They celebrate by sharing beer, using their hands to eat the nation's signature dish (chicken adobo) and swallowing balut, fermented duck eggs still in their shell.

"Every Filipino can relate," Pineda said.

In the modern video, the band arrives at a party riding a Jeepney, the ubiquitous mini-bus seen in the Philippines. An opening scene shows a doting Filipino mother asking one of Pineda's bandmates if he wants chicken adobo.

The historic video resonated in other ways. Set in 1936, it begins with Pineda working in a Stockton asparagus field. Pineda said he wasn't aware of Stockton's history until he learned about it from the videos' director, Patricio Ginelsa.

"I was overwhelmed," Pineda said. "I could relate. They were farmers doing the same thing they do in the Philippines. And their main objective was sending money back home too."

The Little Manila Foundation has been trying for years to generate interest in preserving the Rizal Social Club and other structures on the decaying Stockton street that once was filled with Filipino farmworkers.

Dillion Delvo, the group's president, credits the video for a recent surge of interest in his district and efforts to preserve it.

"It's very powerful for kids to see images of people who look like us from the past," added Emano. "It opens up an entirely new world to them, one that they certainly can't find in their history books in school. And it's come from arguably one of the world's most successful pop bands."

Observe all the beautiful girls

Your beauty really drives me

crazy

The sweetness that is never

tiresome

You're the only one I want to be

with.

UNTIL the song was released last year, the word "bebot" was something of a relic, even in the Filipino American community. Both the modern and the historic videos are filled with beautiful Filipino women dancing.

But as the song became a community touchstone, it also set off a backlash.

Some Filipino women objected to the portrayal of women in the modern video — both the sexy dancing "bebots" and the nagging mother.

Pineda said the portrayal of women in the video is a loving one, based on his memories of growing up.

"That's the trait right there," he said. "Go to a Filipino household and the mom is always trying to feed you. They're always trying to advise you."

Liza Marie S. Erpelo, 33, a language arts professor in Northern California, said it felt stereotypical to her.

"The mother was doing all this screaming," Erpelo said. "I giggled at first; then I thought, 'Why am I laughing?' "

One of Erpelo's classes at Skyline College in San Bruno deals with Filipino stereotypes and the cultural isolation many Filipinos feel here. She is now using "Bebot" in her class, prompting heated discussions about the value of Pineda's song as a rallying cry for the Filipino community.

"What merit does that song have, saying, 'Hot chick, hot chick'?" she asked.

Whatever the effect, the videos' sexy look definitely had an MTV flavor. And Pineda and director Ginelsa felt the videos had a shot at both MTV and VH1 despite the fact they were sung in Tagalog.

The "Bebot" team got excited when MTV sent a correspondent to do a segment on the making of the videos.

But the report ran only on MTV Chi, a year-old niche channel aimed at Chinese Americans.

By the fall, Pineda was more sanguine. He was pleased the song was a hit in Asia. He also was touched by the way "Bebot" was embraced by the Filipino community.

"I hoped it would be played in the States, but it is more popular in Asia, which I appreciate," he said. "The main purpose was to get this out to the Filipino community. People don't realize there's a huge one in America."

You're Filipino — shout it out

— c'mon

If you're beautiful — shout it out

— c'mon

If your life is valuable — c'mon

Thank you for your support.

ON a recent Saturday night at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A., Pineda accepted the Role Model Award from the Filipino American Library during a formal gala attended by hundreds who dined on chicken adobo made specially by the hotel kitchen.

Pineda was introduced by fellow Filipino entertainer Tia Carrere, who said, "His story is the American dream."

"Bebot" began blaring from the P.A. system and the guests jumped to their feet to cheer as the famously fashionable Pineda bounced to the stage in a navy blue suit, pink tie and glossy white sneakers.

After a few words of thanks in Tagalog, Pineda dedicated the award to his Filipino mother and adoptive father, both of whom beamed from the audience.

"I want to thank the Filipino community for embracing me as a Filipino artist in this game," he said. "I represent Filipinos every day, every second. I'm a proud Filipino."

Pineda shimmied and leaped offstage as once again "Bebot" filled the room.

david.pierson@latimes.com

funny how one man can do all this...

2006-11-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well, as I suspected would happen, Youtube took down the Pacquiao-Morales III clip from the last post. I'm sure the full fight is out there on the internet somewhere...maybe try these forums...

There are some other videos out there that relate to the fight last Saturday, but the following are the ones I always love to watch.

After watching these, one thing is very clear: no one else can unite the entire Filipino people as Manny can and bring them this much collective joy. No movie star or politician (much less the President) can do this.

His supporters comprise of the poor/rich, rural/urban, administration/opposition, Catholics/Muslims, Luzon/Visayas/Mindanao, domestic/overseas, young/old...pretty much everyone.

He is in a very powerful position in the Philippines, and I think he knows it. He just has to be wary with all the politicians/other people will try to use him for personal/political gain....

Anyway, on to Youtube clips of Filipinos going crazy in jubiliation:

Video 1: complete w/ the mahjong table

Video 2: I love the little kid jumping in the sofa

Video 3: I love the reactions here =)

Video 4: this from a theater in SM City Iloilo (Western Visayas)

Video 5: this from the Cebu Coliseum

Video 6: last one. This is from the Greenbelt, a very upscale mall in Makati, Metro Manila.

pacquiao v. morales 3 (on youtube...for now at least)

2006-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

If you didn't get to watch the fight on Saturday, here's the Pinoy broadcast feed. I couldn't find Round 2 though.

Rounds 1 and 3

...Top Rank Inc. may force Youtube to take this video down, so watch it while you can!

*cough*www.keepvid.com*cough*

Filipino American History Skit Citations

2006-11-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

As said in today's meeting, here are links to the websites I researched when writing the skit. I'll elaborate more on them when I have time.

Scene 1
Scene 2 a
Scene 2 b
Scene 3
Scene 4 a
Scene 4 b
Scene 5 a
Scene 5 b
Scene 6
Scene 7

sipa halloween: nightmare on temple st.

2006-10-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

It's almost Halloween...that means it's almost time for our annual philanthropy event @ SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans).

This is one of 4 seasonal community events SIPA holds (the others being a Christmas event, an Easter event, and their Super Summer Celebration). The main goals of this event are to bring the Historic Filipinotown community (especially its youth) together to celebrate a happy and safe Halloween within the controlled confines of the event. There's always plenty of food and lots of games for everyone to take part in; however, the main draw of SIPA Halloween is its Haunted House.

SIPA Halloween has become an annual philanthropy for Troy Philippines. Troy Phi over the past years has built and run the Haunted House (run meaning scaring everyone who enters the house). Everyone who has ever taken part in this event (the children/SIPA Staff/Troy Phi members) has had a lot of fun, and we will continue to take part in SIPA Halloween for many years to come.

In 2005 SIPA Halloween's Haunted House took place in the new Temple Gateway Youth & Community Center for the first time. This venue is a lot bigger than previous venues and has better sound/AV systems to scare everyone with.

This year, we have the support of other local Filipino collegiate organizations such as CPP Barkada (congrats on SPUF BTW), CSUF PASA, UCI Kababayan, CSULB PAC, and TDB-Long Beach.

---

Below is a video from last year's SIPA Halloween. This video features Cory as the tour guide, Mondo in a screaming match, Camille rolling on the ground in a box, many many others, and a whole lot of screaming...

ARAY KO! EPISODE 1

2006-10-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

I'm going to embed our youtube videos here.

Carlos, Chris and Albert GO TO JOLLIBEE

CRIBS: Webb Tower

It's actually 3 parts, but I decided to hold off on the meeting recap because there was SO MUCH good stuff to put in that it was too big to upload. =) Enjoy!

The "Bebot" open letter

2006-10-04T22:36:00.000-07:00

All TP members should have received this copy of the letter through email, but I'll post it to the blog for everyone to see.

This letter was written to "Bebot" director Patricio Ginelsa, apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, and Xylophone Films in response to the 2 videos. Please read this before going to Thursday's meeting.

---

To Apl.de.Ap, Patricio Ginelsa/KidHeroes, and Xylophone Films:

We, the undersigned, would like to register our deep disappointment at the portrayal of Filipinas and other women in the new music videos for the Black Eyed Peas' song, "Bebot." We want to make it clear that we appreciate your efforts to bring Filipina/o Americans into the mainstream and applaud your support of the Little Manila of Stockton. However, as Filipina/o and Filipina/o American artists, academics, and community activists, we are utterly dismayed by the portrayal of hypersexualized Filipina "hoochie-mama" dancers, specifically in the Generation 2 version, the type of representation of women so unfortunately prevalent in today's hip-hop and rap music videos. The depiction of the 1930s "dime dancers" was also cast in an unproblematized light, as these women seem to exist solely for the
sexual pleasure of the manongs.

In general, we value Apl.de.Ap's willingness to be so openly and richly Filipino, especially when there are other Filipina/o Americans in positions of visibility who do not do the same, and we appreciate the work that he has done with the folks at Xylophone Films; we like their previous video for "The Apl Song," and we even like the fact that the Generation 1 version of "Bebot" attempts to provide a "history lesson" about some Filipino men in the 1930s. However, the Generation 2 version truly misses the mark on accurate Filipina/o representation, for the following reasons:

1) The video uses three very limited stereotypes of Filipina women: the virgin, the whore, and the shrill mother. We find a double standard in the depiction of the virgin and whore figures, both of which are highly sexualized. Amidst the crowd of midriff-baring, skinny, light-skinned, peroxided Pinays some practically falling out of their halter tops there is the little sister played by Jasmine Trias, from whom big brother Apl is constantly fending off Pinoy "playas." The overprotectiveness is strange considering his idealization of the bebot or "hot chick." The mother character was also particularly troublesome, but for very different reasons. She seems to play a dehumanized figure, the perpetual foreigner with her exaggerated accent, but on top of that, she is robbed of her femininity in her embarrassingly indelicate treatment of her son and his friends. She is not like a tough or strong mother, but almost like a coarse asexual mother, and it is telling that she is the only female character in the video with a full figure.

2) We feel that these problematic female representations might have to do with the use of the word "Bebot." We are of course not advocating that Apl change the title of his song, yet we are confused about why a song that has to do with pride in his ethnic/national identity would be titled "Bebot," a word that suggests male ownership of the sexualized woman the "hot chick." What does Filipino pride have to do with bebots? The song seems to be about immigrant experience yet the chorus says "ikaw ang aking bebot" (you are my hot chick). It is actually very disturbing that one's ethnic/national identity is determined by one's ownership of women. This system not only turns women into mere symbols but it also excludes women from feeling the same kind of ethnic/national identity. It does not bring down just
Filipinas; it brings down all women.

3) Given the unfortunate connection made in this video between Filipino pride and the sexualized female body both lyrically and visually, we can't help but conclude that the video was created strictly for a heterosexual man's pleasure. This straight, masculinist perspective is the link that we find between the Generation 1 and Generation 2 videos. The fact that the Pinoy men are surrounded by "hot chicks" both then and now makes this link plain. Yet such a portrayal not only obscures the "real" message about the Little Manila Foundation; it also reduces Pinoy men's hopes, dreams, and motivations to a single-minded pursuit of sex.

We do understand that Filipino America faces a persistent problem of invisibility in this country. Moreover, as the song is all in Tagalog (a fact that we love, by the way), you face an uphill battle in getting the song and music video(s) into mainstream circulation. However, remedying the invisibility of Filipina/os in the United States should not come at the cost of the dignity and self-respect of at least half the population of Filipino America. Before deciding to write this letter, we felt an incredible amount of ambivalence about speaking out on this issue because, on the one hand, we recognized that this song and video are a milestone for Filipina/os in
mainstream media and American pop culture, but on the other hand, we were deeply disturbed by the images of women the video propagates.

In the end we decided that we could not remain silent while seeing image after image of Pinays portrayed as hypersexual beings or as shrill, dehumanized, asexual mother-figures who embarrass their children with their overblown accents and coarseness. The Filipino American community is made up of women with Filipino pride as well, yet there is little room in these videos for us to share this voice and this commitment; instead, the message we get is that we are expected to stand aside and allow ourselves to be exploited for our sexuality while the men go about making their nationalist statements.

While this may sound quite harsh, we believe it is necessary to point out that such depictions make it seem as if you are selling out Filipina women for the sake of gaining mainstream popularity within the United States. Given the already horrific representations of Filipinas all over the world as willing prostitutes, exotic dancers, or domestic servants who are available for sex with their employers, the representation of Pinays in these particular videos can only feed into such stereotypes. We also find it puzzling, given your apparent commitment to preserving the history and dignity of Filipina/os in the United States, because we assume that you also consider such stereotypes offensive to Filipino men as well as women.

Again, we want to reiterate our appreciation for the positive aspects of these videos the history lesson of the 1936 version, the commitment to community, and the effort to foster a larger awareness of Filipino America in the mainstream but we ask for your honest attempt to offer more full-spectrum representations of both Filipino men and Filipina women, now and in the future. We would not be writing this letter to you if we did not believe you could make it happen.

Respectfully,

Lucy Burns
Assistant Professor
Asian American Studies / World Arts and Cultures, UCLA

Fritzie De Mata
Independent scholar

Diana Halog
Undergraduate
UC Berkeley

Veronica Montes
Writer

Gladys Nubla
Doctoral student
English, UC Berkeley

Barbara Jane Reyes
Poet and author

Joanne L. Rondilla
Doctoral candidate
Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

Rolando B. Tolentino
Visiting Fellow, National University of Singapore
Associate Professor, University of the Philippines Film Institute

Benito Vergara
Asian American Studies / Anthropology, San Francisco State University

---

Go here to see reactions from Patricio's Myspace blog.

Here is an article that talks about some of Patricio's experiences while making the video.

---

Don't forget, Thursday's meeting is in ACC 205, not Tommy's Place.

Bayanihan Dance Co. Performance (9/30 @ Glendora, 8p)

2006-09-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder...Celeste and I need to know by Thursday night an exact number of people going to the Bayanihan National Dance Company performance at the Robert D. Haugh Performing Arts Center in Glendora, CA on September 30. It's $24 for students + 3.50 service charge for ordering it online. We will be buying the tickets at one time so we can all sit together (it's reserved seating), so if you want to go, email us at culture@troyphi.com ASAP.

Here are a couple of videos on Youtube I found of the Bayanihan Dance Troupe - the national dance troupe of the Philippines (they haven't toured the US in 5 years):

Itik-Itik

Aray

Maglalatik

Kappa Malong-Malong

Habanera de Jovencita

On Dual Citizenship and Voting in Philippine Elections

2006-09-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

...I'm just putting this out there for anyone that qualifies and/or is interested. This is long and may get complicated, so contact me for more info if you're interested.

Take a look at the article below (written on 8/19/06) from the Philippine News website:

--

Dual citizens gain reprieve on poll listup

By Rio Araja

The Commission on Elections yesterday approved a one-month extension of registration for Filipinos overseas including those who have acquired dual citizenship.

Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. and commissioners Florentino Tuason Jr., Romeo Brawner, Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer approved Resolution 7694, following a Supreme Court decision allowing expatriates to register as overseas absentee-voters.

The Court invoked Republic Act 9225, otherwise known as the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, reaffirming the suffrage right of Filipinos who were granted dual citizenship.

The high court ruled that there is no provision in the Dual Citizenship Act stipulating “dual citizens to actually establish residence and physically stay in the Philippines first before they can exercise their right to vote.”

The commission will utilize the one-month grace period to inform the Filipinos overseas about their right to take part in the poll process starting next year.

The OAV registration is supposed to end on Aug. 31.

James Arthur Jimenez, Comelec spokesman, said the poll body is likely to grant another extension “if the response is good.”

SC ruled that there is no provision in the Dual Citizenship Act stipulating “dual citizens to actually establish residence and physically stay in the Philippines first before they can exercise their right to vote.”

Abalos directed OAV registration centers in all Philippine Postal Corp. offices abroad and other centers at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Ninoy Aquino International Airport to accept the applications of absentee-voters until Sept. 30.

---

So what does this mean?

If you are a dual citizen of the Philippines and any other country, you now have the right to vote in Philippine national elections (like the upcoming 2007 senatorial elections) without having to sign an Affidavit of Intent to Return.

The whole Philippine Overseas Absentee Voting system started in 2003; however, registration turnout for the 2004 national elections was very low because people did not want to sign the Affidavit of Intent to Return which would have meant that they must establish physical residence in the Philippines within 3 years.

Just last month the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that dual citizens don't have to sign said affidavit anymore to register to vote. This could mean that a dual citizen that hasn't even stepped foot in the Philippines his or her entire life could vote in Philippine national elections.

So if you are a dual citizen right now and is interested in voting, you have until September 30 2006 to register. Contact me or the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles for more info.

---

But wait, what if I'm not a dual citizen? Am I qualified to be one?

You are qualified to be a dual citizen if at least one parent was a Filipino citizen at the time of your birth, and that your birth must was reported to the Philippine Embassy or Consulate which exercises jurisdiction over the place of birth.

You can apply for dual citizenship if you qualify at the Philippine Consulate or Embassy.

What are the benefits of being a dual citizen?

Taken from the LA Consulate's website:

right to vote in Philippine national elections
- right to own land and property in the Philippines
- right to engage in business or commerce as a Filipino
- right to travel bearing a Filipino passport
- other rights and privileges enjoyed by Filipino citizens

---

Ok, this is getting long. Bottom line, if you are interested in either becoming a dual citizen or voting in the 2007 Philippine national elections if you currently are a dual citizen, contact me or the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles.

Jollibee, anyone?

2006-09-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Jollibee is, well, kind of a big deal.

With more than 1200 locations in the Philippines, Jollibee is Pinoy fast food. The restaurant chain also beats McDonald's in the Philippines, making almost double the revenue of the American giant "McDo."

In the Philippines, most of Jollibee's meals are priced between P19 and P30. The exchange rate as of Sept. 7, 2006 is 50 pesos to 1 dollar. According to my calculations, a meal at Jollibee would cost you around 50 cents... in the Philippines, that is.

Just what makes Jollibee so good? The well dressed and happy bee mascot, I think.

Edit: ...and below (taken in June 2005 at a Consulate Independence Day event) is said mascot. -- R

But most likely, it's the fact that Jollibee caters to the Pinoy palate. Offering sweeter spaghetti, Filipino-style Yum burgers, Palabok Fiestas, rice meals, crunchy ChickenJoys, and tropically flavored desserts, it's no wonder that Jollibee wins. When was the last time your McDonald's carried Langka pies?

My only objection is... the height requirement. I went to the Philippines in 2003 and they had all these flyers up to be a Jollibee worker. Apparently, to join the team you have to be around 5'3.

I guess I'm not Jollibee material.

Anyway, embedded below are some Jollibee commercials to entertain you. Some big-name Filipino artists are included in Jollibee's campaign, including MYMP (Make Your Momma Proud), Sarah Geronimo, and Sam Milby.

With MYMP.

With Sarah Geronimo, my favorite, and Sam Milby- that Fil-Am who's the crush of the country right now even though he can't speak Tagalog.

Sarah Geronimo again! <3>

Pinoy Visions (9/6) and FPAC (9/9 - 9/10)

2006-09-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

As part of the upcoming Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture on Sep. 9-10, the Association for the Advancement of Filipino Arts and Culture, Inc. is presenting the 13th edition of PINOY VISIONS, showcasing the best upcoming Pinoy filmmaking talents since 1994.

It's being held this week in various events leading up to FPAC, and Troy Phi is planning an outing to the third part of Pinoy Visions, which will be at the David Henry Hwang Theatre in Downtown LA from 7:30p-9p. It's a great way to see firsthand new, unique perspectives in film from Filipino and Filipino-American directors.

Among the film shorts and music videos shown that night are both Bebot videos from the Black Eyed Peas. There will also be documentaries (ex. The Debutantes of Orange County), narratives (ex. Sikyu and Grandma's Recipe), and some animation (Sabong Spell) as well. For the full list of films, please visit the following website: http://vconline.org/pinoyvisions06/daythree.html

General admission is $8. Rides can be arranged if necessary. If you want to go, email Celeste and me at culture@troyphi.com as soon as possible.

--

Also, a reminder that FPAC is coming up, and we're having a bus taking people there on Sunday the 10th...please email me if you're going to that too. Riding on the bus is free, $3 for admission to FPAC ($5 for a two-day pass).

TP Teaser 2006!

2006-08-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

TP on youtube.com!

So, after hours of work, the teaser is FINALLY UP. Thank God, haha. Anyway, check it out! It's only 2 minutes of your time and the video is accompanied by audio from the wonderful Nikka Costa, 'Everybody Got Their Something.'

Take a look at it and see just how YOU could be involved in Troy Phi!

Also, forgive me for forgetting the talented Jasmine Trias at Barrio Fiesta picture, but I figured that it was already on the flyers for the meeting... that, and everyone's seen enough of her. *wink*

Enjoy!

The video is embedded below:

Philippines Air Force Ones

2006-08-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

The Philippines Air Force Ones were made by Nike as a tribute to Joze Rizal. The Philippines Air Force Ones are out now, but in extremely limited quantities - 500 pairs! Available at Kix-Files

For more information on Jose Rizal check out:

Survey says...

2006-08-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the survey results from this past spring's TP Family Feud. The questionnaire was put up on troyphi.com less than two weeks before the meeting. You may find the results interesting.



		Filipino Celebrity	%
		Others	40
		Lea Salonga	24
		Rob Schneider	10
		Tia Carrere	8
		Manny Pacquiao	8
		Jasmine Trias	8
		Including:	(3) Regine Velasquez
			(2) Sharon Kuneta, Dante Basco, Piolo Pascual, Kris Aquino
			(1) Aga Muhlach, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Bea Alonzo, Chinggay Andrada, Lilly Thai, Vanessa Minnillo, RJ David, Vhong Navarro, Joy Bisco

		Filipino Dessert	%
		Halo-Halo	29
		Bibingka	25
		Leche flan	19
		Puto	15
		Others	8
		Pastillas	4
		Turon	4


		Including:	(1) Cassava Cake, Kutsinta, Tracy, Ube

		Trad. Fil. Dance	%
		Tinikling	69
		Pandanggo Sa Ilaw	12
		Singkil	8
		Others	7
		Paso Doble	4
		Including:	(1) Maglalatik, Janggay, Jota, Michelle

		Filipino Occupation	%
		Nurse	75
		Accountant	12
		Others	7
		Navy	6
		Including:	(1) Engineer, Office Administrator, Lawyer, VP of TP

		Something found in the pantry of a Filipino household	%
		Others	41
		Spam	22

Patis

Rice

Vienna Sausages

Jufran

Including:

(4) Giant fork and spoon

(3) Egg rolls, adobo

(2) Bagoong, soy sauce, Knorr seasoning, corned beef, sardines/daing, condensed milk

(1) Skyflakes, shrimp chips, pancit

Something you would put in a balikbayan box

Old clothes

Old clothes/ nike crap/ underwear

Bathroom items

(4) toilet paper; (3) towels; shampoo, toothpaste

Spam

Candy/chocolate

Others

Vienna Sausage

Including:

(3) Corned beef

(1) Dried fish, adobo, tv, food

Something among your pasalubong (what you'd bring back from the Philippines)

Polvoron/candy

polvoron, chocolate nuts, pastilla, tamarind candy

Others

Cheap clothes

soen panties, lacoste shirts, bahag, wifebeaters

Dried mangoes

Knockoffs

pirated cds, cell phone covers, fake purses/ luggage

Barrel men

Including:

(1) A wife, fans, food, tv, bagoong, giant spoon and fork, milo, iya from wowowee, corn nuts, ube, dried fish

Something found in a filipino household

Santo Niño

Others

Last Supper Portrait

Tabo

Plastic floor runners

Filipinos

Including:

(3) Crucifix

(2) Rice cooker, food, giant fork and spoon, walis ting ting

(1) Magic Mic, barrel man, shoes by the door, Tony, tv

Favortie TP event of current year (05-06)*

* TP Family Feud was in February


		Others	35
		Ski Trip	27
		Eboard Auction	17
		Halloween Party	7
		Singled Out	7
		Alumni Tailgate	7
		Including:	(5) Knott's Scary Farm, Friendship Games, 1st Meeting
			(1) SIPA Halloween, Traddies, Hooters, Barrio Fiesta, Diddy Riese, Alumni Day, Rex

		You know you're Filipino if you....	%
		Others	49
		Respond to hoy/psst..	21
		Point with your lips	10
		Are always on Filipino time	8
		Eat with your hands	6
		Eat rice	6
		Including:	(4) 'Open' the lights, have an Uncle Boy, have/use a tabo, have tsinelas at the door
			(1) your diet lacks vegetables, eat eggs with ketchup and rice, your rice cooker always on, eat dinuguan, eat balut, smell like homecooked food (eggs/toyo), say 'shya', your parents say 'curtail your galavanting', your p's and f's are backwards, your middle name is your mother's maiden name, have no dogs, are always happy, your parents are, are in TP, filling out this survey, wash your ass

		Filipino time is....	%


		1 hour	39
		30 minutes	29
		2 hours	12
		Others	12
		20 minutes	8
		Including:	(2) 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 45 minutes, 1.5 hours, As long as the event is not over

filipino food - overlooked by the rest of the world

2006-08-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Ashley told me about this recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser entitled "Lost in Translation." No, it's not about the movie, but rather about why Filipino cuisine has remained almost exclusively within the Filipino community. (Example: Go to the Max's in Glendale and see how many non-Filipinos eat there daily).

An excerpt from the article (the rest can be seen here):

--

...As a Filipino who loves the food of his culture, Flores has argued for years that it's time for Filipino food to break out. But as a businessman, he's concluded that the only place you can be successful with a Filipino restaurant is in a neighborhood where many Filipinos live. A chain called Jolly Bee (um, that's not how you spell it) has done well in Filipino communities in California, for example. (not necessarily -- look at the abstract of this 2002 LA Times article here.)

"But you don't see a Filipino restaurant in Kailua. You don't see one in Hawai'i Kai," he said. "You see Filipinos eating in Chinese restaurants, but you don't see Chinese eating in Filipino restaurants. It's just how it is."

NO UPSCALE ATTENTION

Nor has Filipino food made it into the high-end mainstream, where deconstructed, dandied-up versions of local dishes enter the $20-a-plate circle.

If there's anyone on O'ahu who could give Filipino cuisine a haute makeover, it's Elmer Guzman, the Maui-born Filipino chef trained by Emeril Lagasse and Sam Choy. But when Guzman went out on his own last year, he opened The Poke Stop, a take-out place focused on seafood.

"I thought about it and thought about it," he said of the high-end Filipino restaurant idea. "I knew it wasn't going to work. Maybe in San Francisco; not in Hawai'i." Given the already narrow audience for big-ticket dining, and the general lack of understanding of Filipino food, "you'd be taking a big chance." This despite the fact that many, many of the line cooks in top restaurants are of Filipino descent, he said.

Guzman also was concerned about communicating the subtleties of his culture's "soul food." On the surface, many Filipino entrees have a sameness: they begin with onion and garlic, they're simmered or boiled, they feature a lot of vegetables, they're flavored with different meats or seafoods, plus dried shrimp or fish sauce. To those who know the difference between pinakbet and sari-sari, both vegetable stews, the nuances are obvious, but they're likely lost on the rest of the audience, he said.

Guzman featured a few Filipino-style dishes when he was chef at Sam Choy's Diamond Head Grill — adobo leg of duck with crispy skin, for example. But, he said, "the thing about it was, visually, you don't have the wow. You might have the flavor, but not the wow appearance. People eat with their eyes." There's also the fact that the minute patis — the fish sauce that's the Filipino cooking equivalent of shoyu in Japanese cuisine — hits the heat, it sends out a powerful scent, one that some diners might not appreciate.

Guzman's comments hint at another point that may explain why Filipino food has not spread: Many entrepreneurial immigrants have been willing to doctor the foods of their home, toning down potent flavors and eliminating unfamiliar ingredients, to make the food acceptable to a Western audience. But, said Stephanie Castillo, a filmmaker and lover of her mom's Filipino cooking, "I don't think Filipinos thought of their food as something to be marketed...."

the mayon evacuation

2006-08-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

It looks like the famed "perfect cone" Mayon Volcano in the Philippines is about to have a major eruption again, threatening many surrounding villages. The government has ordered the evacuation of up to 50,000 people who live within an 8-km radius of the volcano.

An excerpt from the Inq7 article, found here:

--

LEGAZPI CITY -- Bundled in Army trucks, jeepneys and private cars and hugging their dearest possessions, thousands of villagers fled their homes yesterday after one of the Philippines’ deadliest volcanoes blasted out clouds of ash, indicating a major eruption was imminent.

The government ordered the forced evacuation of anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 villagers after declaring an 8-km zone on the southeast sector of Mount Mayon a “no man’s land.”

Waiting for a truck on a roadside in Barangay Mabinit, one of the most threatened villages, an elderly woman nervously clutched her rosary beads and made the sign of the cross.

Nearby, a half-naked man carried bundles of newly cut firewood on his shoulder. Other men had toddlers in their arms.

“It could just be hours or a matter of two days before a major eruption will occur,” resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta told an emergency meeting of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council.

Whole families clutching sleeping mats, pillows, frying pans, radios, plastic food and water containers and sackfuls of clothes joined the massive flight.

Behind them, mushroom-shaped ash clouds towered overhead.

Megaphone in hand, Mayor Noel Rosal roamed Mabinit, appealing to residents to leave.

One of the country’s 22 active volcanoes, Mayon has had a violent history of 47 eruptions since 1616. Its worst eruption buried Cagsawa town and killed 1,200 people in 1814. A 1993 eruption killed 77 farmers.

‘Hazardous and explosive’

Laguerta gave the grim forecast after Mayon belched ash columns towering from 300 to 800 meters on the 23rd day of its restiveness. More ash ejections were expected during the day.

This prompted the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise the alert one notch higher to level 4, which meant that a “hazardous, explosive eruption” was imminent....

--

the official bebot music videos

2006-08-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the official video of the song "Bebot" by the Black Eyed Peas. It was directed by TP alum Patricio Ginelsa.

There are two versions of the video: Generation 1 (1936) and Generation 2 (present day).

Generation 1:

Generation 2:

Other related videos:

Follow the link to the "Bebot in Little Manila" mini documentary.

The teaser:

Article links:
MTV article
Stockton Record article
Inq7 article (talking about how BEP got the Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit)

introducting the troy phi wiki

2006-07-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

http://troyphi.wikispaces.com.

-- let's see how this goes. if you are an active member or alumni and want editing privileges to the wiki, email me at raymond@troyphi.com.

cultural event: the lotus festival (7.8-7.9)

2006-07-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

come see tp's dance troupe perform @ the lotus festival!

--

29th annual LOTUS FESTIVAL YOUTH STAGE

Echo Park, Los Angeles
Saturday, July 8, 2006
Sunday, July 9, 2006
free & all ages
this year's festival celebrates the Philippines

performing on Sat, July 8 (hosted by Room to Improv):

2:00 TROY PHILIPPINES (trad.)
2:20 EAST WIND LION DANCE (trad.)
2:40 THREE OF A KIND (singing)
2:55 DARESAY (rap)
3:15 KIDS GAMES w/ PETER CHEN (dance)
3:40 COCO (trad.)
4:05 JEET KUNE FLOOR (hip hop dance)
4:10 INT'L PARAMO KARATE SCHOOL (martial arts)
4:35 FURIS (rap)
4:50 JANELLE VALENCIA (singing)
5:00 BRENDA (singing)
5:20 COLLEEN CAMPOS (singing)
5:40 HAPPY MUSIC BAND (rock)
6:00 VIRUSS & WON HYO (rap)
6:15 NORMANDIE REC CENTER BALLET (dance)
6:30 CALI GROWN (rap)
6:40 CHOSEN 1 (rap)
7:10 SIPA YOUTH (spoken word)
7:20 ROSCOE UMALI (rap w/ live band)

performing on Sun, July 9 (hosted by Room To Improv):

12:00 KEIKI O AINA (trad.)
12:30 AMBROSIA w/ DAN MANALANG (storytelling)
12:50 SEOUL INT'L PARK DANCERS (hip hop dance)
1:05 PAKAMUT FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS (martial arts)
1:45 SUN DOMINAL (rock)
2:10 THAIS TRADITIONAL DANCE (trad.)
2:20 VIVACE #1 (singing/dance)
2:45 GOONIES (breakdance)
3:05 FAR OUT (rock)
3:30 ALPINE POLYNESIAN DANCERS (trad.)
3:50 VIVACE #2 (singing/dance)
4:15 KIDS GAMES w/ PETER CHEN
4:35 LEE JUNG IM KOREAN DANCE (trad.)
4:55 TANI'S DANCERS (trad.)
5:10 INT'L PARAMO KARATE SCHOOL (martial arts)
5:40 LARA ANDREA AVENGOZA (singing)
5:55 NORMANDIE REC CENTER KARATE GROUP (martial arts)
6:05 BURLINGTON SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS (drama)
6:25 LINAGE PERFORMANCE COMPANY (drama)
6:55 TROY PHILIPPINES (trad.)
7:10 LYRA FLIP (rap)
7:25 BBOYZ II MEN (breakdance)

presented by Asiatic Empire, Normandie Rec Center, Menoman Sound

ECHO PARK - Los Angeles - Celebrate Asian/Pacific Americans
This year the Festival will highlight the people and culture of the Philippines. A fabulous fireworks finale over Echo Park Lake will conclude the day's activities at 9:00 p.m., with legendary Taiko Drummers playing the background.

Saturday, July 8, 2006 - 12:00 noon to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 9, 2006 - 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m.
(Dates coincide with the blooming of the Lotus Flower)

FREE Admission - Open to ALL!!!
Rides and Food and Entertainment

Parking can be a problem...
see web site for more info

http://www.laparks.org/grifmet/lotus.htm

pacquiao w12 ud v larios

2006-07-02T01:17:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from the Associated Press article:

--

"Manny Pacquiao gave the home fans plenty to cheer about Sunday, battering Mexico's Oscar Larios to claim a unanimous decision and retain his WBC International super featherweight title.

In the same arena where Joe Frazier and Muhammed Ali slugged it out in the "Thrilla in Manila" 31 years ago, the 27-year-old Pacquiao repeatedly showed off his speed and power in the 12-round bout, knocking down Larios twice while raising his record to 42-3-2.

"Anybody wants beer, it's on me," a jubilant Pacquiao, whose endorsements include beer, told a news conference....

...Hundreds of poor people traveled from afar just to get a glimpse of Pacquiao, who has become a national icon and inspiration due to his rise from poverty, even though they didn't have tickets.

Vic Mar Echo, a 22-year-old amateur boxer, his knuckles covered with bruises and welts, came from Taytay town, in Rizal province near Manila, with only enough money for transportation.

"He's my idol," Echo said. "I want to hold his hands and feel how strong it is."

journalism internship opportunity

2006-06-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

just wanted to pass this along:

--

Students invited to intern & train in BALITA MEDIA INC.

HAVE you ever imagined how it is to be a reporter, editor or
photojournalist? Are your curious as to how news is created, developed and
delivered? Do you want to know how it feels like to work in a newspaper?

BALITA MEDIA INC., publishers of WEEKEND BALITA, MIDWEEK BALITA and
BALITA.COM*three of the largest and most widely read print and online
publications in the Filipino community*is inviting college students to work
as trainees and interns.

* Third or fourth year high school or college students can apply.

* Trainees and interns will receive in-newsroom training in every aspect of
presswork, including reporting and writing.

* Allowance will be provided.

E-mail an application letter to editor@balita.com .

an award (plus other stuff)

2006-06-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

I went to SIPA's open house merienda reception today, and I am pleased to announce that TP received this:

Thanks to everyone that contributed to our volunteer work w/ SIPA; we plan to continue doing community service w/ them. Today they unveiled their new Community Arts & Technology Center at the TGYCC and it looks really nice. The kids love it.

--

In other news, I met TP alum Elson Trinidad (Class of 1995) at the open house. He has a website here detailing his musical efforts.

He also says to look out for his fellow TP alum & classmate Alden Villaverde in the recent film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. His IMDB page is here.

Here's a picture of Villaverde from the East/West Players web site:

the philippines and international football

2006-06-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

The World Cup is going on right now, and in every game there is a tremendous display of national pride of all the nations in the stands and in their home countries. If you don't know what I mean, just go to youtube and search for "world cup" or "brazil" or "korea" and you'll see.

So it made me wonder: How did the Philippines fare in attempting to qualify for the World Cup? Do we even have a national football team??

Well.....yes. We do.

The most comprehensive site I could find about Philippine football is this one. there's also a nice article about Philippine football here.

The latter article states that international football used to be popular in the Philippines:

"...In 1913, when most of Asia probably had not even heard of the game, the Philippines set about creating football history when they organised the first ever Asian international match. Something never to be forgotten, Philippines played China in Manila with the hosts winning the game 2-1. That was the start of a game that would extend to the length and breadth of the Asian continent.

But a change of guard - the Spanish invaders left the islands to the Americans - resulted in the game losing its popularity in its birthplace. Football, instead of becoming the number one sport amongst Filipinos, ended up playing second fiddle to American sports...."

There's a more in-depth article on the history of Philippine football here.

an excerpt from that article:

"...Meanwhile, SMC protege Juan Cutillas, after leaving the country in 1965, came back a balikbayan doctor in 1968 and started to crowd the football headlines. Armed with a Physical Training diploma from Madrid, a Spanish national coaching license, a doctorate in medicine and a lot of corporate influence, Cutillas literally made football "tsunamis."

The Spanish doctor steered a spectacular win by a Philippine Selection over a visiting pro team, Dallas Tornadoes, 2-1, in 1968. The former Atletico Madrid midfielder coached the San Beda Red Lions and led them to three consecutive NCAA victories in as many seasons since 1968. From that year on, Cutillas has handled the national football team as coach and other sports as trainer. The only time he did not coach a national team was in '73 and '74 when he was relieved by Florentino Broce. Cutillas also led the SMC team to five championships in seven PFA tournament stagings.

In 1971, Cutillas, going through with tradition, selected four top-caliber Spanish players and one Chinese to beef up the Philippine Selection. The formula again worked as prestigious tournaments insisted on having them on the field.

Participating in such prestigious events as the Merdeka Invitationals, Pesta Sukan, Indonesia's Anniversary Cup and the President Park tournament, the Philippine Selection managed to come up with rare feats in beating Thailand, Singapore and mighty Korea. Simply stated, it is Philippine football popularity resurrected.

That's as far as football has gone in the Philippines. For when the Spaniards Lozano, Cuenca, Gutierrez and Roxas left the football scenario due to lack of funds, basketball went in for the kill as it grabbed the spotlight and the crowd. It's turning professional in 1974 is but a nail in football's coffin...."

According to FIFA's profile of the Philippines here, they didn't even try to qualify for this year's Cup.

Some facts from that site:

Despite being the oldest national team in Asia, the Philippines did not take part in preliminaries for a FIFA World Cup until the 1998 tournament. Unfortunately, they have only been able to dream of qualification so far.

In qualifying for Korea/Japan 02, the Philippines finished bottom of a group won by Oman. In six games, they only won a single point in the home game against Laos.

The Philippines, where the Asian Football Confederation was founded on 8 May 1954, celebrated their finest victory back in 1917 with a 15-2 demolition of Japan. Their team will not take part in qualifying for Germany 06.

Oh well. There's always Pacquiao to cheer for.

BTW, his fight w/ Oscar Larios @ the Araneta Coliseum is on July 2. HBO isn't covering this, so I don't know how to watch it yet.

cultural events (6.17-6.24)

2006-06-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

1. SIPA 3rd Annual Open House Merienda Reception (6.23)

(Volunteers are being recognized in this event, including TP, so if you can make it, email me)

Education, Creation
and Innovation—
Building Blocks of the Community

3200 West Temple Street • Historic Filipinotown • Los Angeles, CA 90026-4522
Tel (213) 382-1819 • Fax (213) 382-7445 • www.esipa.org

reply or for more information, call SIPA’s Events Hotline at (213) 382-1819 x123 or email info@esipa.org.

---

2. Community Forum: "History in the Making" (6.24)

FILIPINO AMERICAN SERVICE GROUP INC. (FASGI), and PHILIPPINE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (PABA), CHA HOLLYWOOD PRESBYTERIAN MEDICAL CENTER ) cordially invite you to:

DISCUSSION ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES

Filipino Veterans Family Reunification and Exemption Quota for Registered Nurse

at the

CHA HOLLYWOOD PRESBYTERIAN MEDICAL CENTER AUDITORIUM,
1300 No. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. (Parking entrance-Lexington St. $2.00)

on
SATURDAY, JUNE 24
9:00 AM TO 11:30 AM

Speakers/Panelists: Roman Mosqueda,Esq.; Eric Lacheca, American Coalition of Filipino Veterans; Allison Aquino, Esq., PABA; Stuart Kwoh, President, Asian American Pacific Legal Center (invited), U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa (invited); U.S. Congressman David Dreier,(invited)

MC/FC: Eduardo A. Angeles, Esq. President, PABA

FREE! No Charge. Light Refreshments will be served from 8:00 – 9:00 am

For more info and RSVP: Allison Aquino, email aaquino@aquinolaw.net: Susan Dilkes at Tel: 213 487-9804; Email: fasgi@fasgi.org
Partially Funded by the Department of Community Services and Development

cultural events (6.10-6.15)

2006-06-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

1. "Care Home" Screening (6.10)

NORA AUNOR'S FILM SCREENING ON JUNE 10

In line with the Philippine Independence Celebration for the month of
June, GGS Entertainment proudly presents a special screening of the
movie "Care Home" starring the legendary superstar Ms. Nora Aunpr,
Queen of the Visayan Movies Gloria Sevilla, Rebecca Quintana and Divina
Valencia on Saturday, June 10, 2006 at 6:30 P.M. at the Glendale Central
Library Auditorium located at 222 E. Harvard Street Glendale, CA 91205.
Tickets available at the gate or for more information please call (818)
915-3558 and (818) 240-8397.

"Care Home,"directed by Suzett Ranillo, promises not only to
entertain but to provide a look into the plight of the Filipino
caregivers in the United States. Opposed to the Filipino cultural norm
that frowns upon those who seek outside facilities to care for their
elderly, this movie presents a different mind set whereby adult Filipino
children are encouraged to allow a facility to provide quality care for
their aging parents.

After a successful screening in San Francisco, this movie promises to
touch the hearts of the people of Los Angeles who choose to see it. For
a peek at the movie's outtakes and film gallery, you may visit their
website at www.carehomethemovie.com

2. Kabattang maka-Bayan USA presents "THE ROOFTOP" Native Guns Album Release Party (6.11)

LOS ANGELES ALBUM RELEASE PARTY!
JUNE 11th, 5-11pm at REMY'S on TEMPLE
2126 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Cost: $8 donation
No one will be turned away for lack of funds

A community event featuring good food, music, art, truth, and hope.

All Power To The People
KmB

Los Angeles/Bay Area, CA- Acclaimed revolutionary Pinoy hip hop group Native Guns are proud to announce the long-awaited, highly anticipated release of their debut album, "Barrel Men."

An urban tribal masterpiece-"Barrel Men" reflects the life, times, and mission of these "two bald-headed brown brothas with tattoos." MCs Kiwi and Bambu both grew up in inner-city Los Angeles districts in which gang culture was a part of their youth. Building names for themselves separately in L.A.'s busy underground hip hop scene, they were united through the same love and passion to improve their community. Both credit hip hop for providing an alternative to gang life and sparking their social consciousness.

With production from DJ Rhettmatic (World Famous Beat Junkies, Visionaries), Sabzi (Blue Scholars), ASI and others, the Native Guns combine music with critical thought, covering topics ranging from third world sweatshop labor ("Work It") to self-criticism ("Look in the Mirror"). Spitting knowledge doesn't have to be boring: the Guns prove this with their head-nodding anthem "Champion," the first single from the album. Another song that is sure to get crowds jumping is the track "Hammer," which is a bouncing call-to-arms for their fellow youth from the hood. "1995" has Kiwi and Bambu reminiscing about the feel-good innocent days of discovering hip-hop, while "Kombat" provides a scathing critique of today's mainstream rap industry.

"Barrel Men" represents a fresh perspective for hip hop, embodying the bridge between art and activism. In this tradition of socially conscious music, this album will certainly be an important contribution, both in the classroom and on the street corner.

3. Filipino Heritage Day Celebration -- Walnut, CA (6.11)

SPECIAL CELEBRATION

SUNDAY - JUNE 11, 2006 - 1:00 P.M.

Miracle Hill Campus - 18901 Amar Rd., Walnut, CA

JUNE 11 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

9:00 A.M. - PILIPINO SERVICE
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP SERVICE
12:00 Noon -LUNCH (FOOD BOOTHS)
1:00 P.M. - OPENING CEREMONY
2:00 P.M. - CULTURAL PROGRAM AND ENTERTAINMENT AND BALLROOM DANCING

18901 E. Amar Road (driveway is opposite Amber Valley Drive)
Walnut, CA 91789 • Ph (626) 965-4300 • Fax (626) 965-4481

Contact: Len Mercado (626) 839-1724 • Grace Barrios (626) 854-9899

We Welcome Sponsors and Booth Exhibitors

Sponsored by:
Filipino American Chamber of Commerce
of San Gabriel Valley
City of West Covina
City of Walnut
Gospel Life CommunityWest Covina Toyota ScionUniversal Bank
Honorary Co-Chairs
West Covina Mayor Steve Herfert • Mayor Pro-Tem Michael Touhey
Walnut Mayor Pro-Tem Tony Cartagena • Council Memeber Joaquin Lim

4. Asian Americans and Immigration Reform (6.15)

Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) and the Organization of Chinese Americans - Greater LA (OCA-GLA) cordially invite you to:

"Asian Americans and Immigration Reform: Where Do We Stand?"
An Educational/Discussion Forum on Issues of Concern for the Asian Pacific Islander Community

Thursday, June 15, 2006
6:00 - 7:00 PM Reception and check-in
7:00 - 8:30 PM Panel discussion
The Pico House at the El Pueblo Historical Monument
425 N. Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles CA 90012

Complimentary food and refreshments will be provided.

Speakers include:
Mike Eng, Monterey Park City Councilmember and Former Mayor; Immigration Law Attorney
Anna Prasad, Executive Director, US-Asia Business Forum
Aquilina Soriano-Versoza, Executive Director, Pilipino Workers' Center
John Trasviña, Interim President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Kent Wong, Director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research
Su Yon Yi, Director of Special Projects, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium

Moderators:
Preeti Kulkarni, board member, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress; finance director, Connections for Children
George M. Yin, board member, Organization of Chinese Americans; public law attorney, Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP....

....This event is free, but space is limited. Reservations are highly encouraged. To RSVP, send your name and number of guests to: apafp@apaforprogress.org.

APAP is a national network of progressive Asian Americans. Additional immigration forums are planned for San Francisco (July 5) and San Diego (July 15). For more info, go to: apaforprogress.org

OCA is dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. For more info, go to: oca-gla.org

Parking Info:
Lot 2 (enter on Main Street, cross-street Cesar Chavez)
Lot 4 (enter on Los Angeles Street, cross-street Arcadia)
Lot 5 (enter on Alameda Street, cross-street Arcadia)
Parking is $5
http://camla.org/bigmap.htm

cavite -- a review

2006-06-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

For a film that had absolutely no budget, Cavite was pretty good. It had its flaws, but overall it was a film worth watching.

The protagonist, Adam (Ian Gamazon) is a docks security officer in San Diego. He seemed to be wasting his life away. Then he gets a call from his mom saying that his father died, so he goes to the Philippines to attend his funeral. When he gets to NAIA in Manila, his mom never picks him up. Then a cell phone rings. Someone slipped one in his bag. Adam answers it, and learns that Muslim extremist terrorists (yes, the Abu Sayyaf) have kidnapped his mom and sister and will kill them unless he follows their orders. And so the film goes....

For those who have never seen the slums of the Philippines, this is an eye-opener, because you get to see the grim reality of the poverty in our homeland. The majority of the film was shot in the squatter towns in Cavite. You see all the trash strewn about, all the little kids with tattered clothes, etc. The Muslim terrorist makes Adam, the Filipino-American, go through these squatter towns, telling him not to be afraid, that these squatters are his countrymen. I can't really describe to you how bad these places are. You just have to see it for yourself. Along with making Adam do more dangerous errands for his cause, he also forces him to experience the heritage he for the most part doesn't know. I really liked how the directors blended the terrorism/Filipino heritage topics together in this film. (As for how authentic they presented the Muslim situation in the Philippines, well, I have to read up on those massacres they talked about in the movie).

The film goes on at a brisk pace, taking Adam around Cavite; the market, the bank, houses, cockfighting arenas, sari-sari stands....it really only stops when Adam stops to take a breath or argues with the terrorist over the phone. It's like we're there with him and we have no choice but to go forward with him. The film goes like this until its climax.

The native music used in the film was pretty good; it lent itself well to the increasing tension towards the end, although it got a little annoying sometimes (they kept reusing some of the music).

The acting....well, as the production story goes, the film was supposed to have a female lead, but the two directors (Gamazon and Dela Llana) couldn't get anyone to go with them to the Philippines, to the slums, with no bodyguards or anything of that sort. So they rewrote the script and Gamazon reluctantly became the male lead. And his acting inexperience showed (like when he gets angry and stuff).

I liked the voice of the uncredited Muslim terrorist though. Direct and very threatening (well, most of the time -- he sang Mr. Suave at a part of the film). It was better that we never saw him at all in the film.

So to me, the best part of the film was the location and the resourcefulness of the directors to pull off a thriller such as this with no budget (they sold their cameras on Ebay after they were done with them to recoup costs). The acting from the main lead could have been better and detracted a bit from the overall film; nevertheless, this is a film worth watching.

Other views:

Positive: LA Times
Negative: The AV Club

Thanks to Amanda, Derrick, Diane, Andrew, Rachelle, and Loraine for coming out and watching the film with me.

the master list (as of 5.30.06)

2006-05-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

...So i changed the template again; the old one didn't look right.

So in the process of changing the looks of the blog I decided to add more links to the right. A LOT of links.

While compiling this list of Filipino collegiate student organizations in the United States (and Canada!) I realized that quite a few of these clubs are named Filipino American Student Association or a variant of the name. But that really doesn't mean anything; the number of clubs I found online was staggering. They are all pretty diverse too.

So basically I linked every site I found that has been updated somewhat recently (updated up to 2-3 years ago -- yeah, i know; there were a whole bunch that haven't been updated since 1997). If I made a mistake or missed a site you know about, let me know.

My review of Cavite will come later this week.

cavite -- film screening on may 26th (7:30p)

2006-05-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

During the next 2 months there will be film screenings of a new Filipino-American independent film called Cavite.

Here's an excerpt from an email forwarded to me by Eloisa Gomez Borah, who in turn got it from one Vincent Nebrida:

---

"...Winner of the 2006 Independent Spirit's "Someone to Watch" Award and recently screened as an official selection at the prestigious New Directors/ New Films Festival, CAVITE is a heart-pounding suspense thriller and the screen debut of filmmakers Neill Dela Llana and Ian Gamazon. The film follows Adam (Ian Gamazon), a young Filipino American living in San Diego, back to his native country for his father's funeral. Upon his arrival at the airport, the purpose of his visit becomes radically different. An anonymous cell phone call by an unseen Muslim extremist who has kidnapped his mother and sister forces him to undertake a torturous journey to save their lives.

As Adam carries out a series of seemingly random errands ordered by the omniscient voice, he is led through the slums of modern-day Manila and the back alleys of the nearby city of Cavite. Here, the returning expatriate is forced to participate in activities, and bravely faces the challenge of examining his own culture and conscience.

ACCLAIM FOR "CAVITE":

"Ingenious....Among the most striking American independent films of the year!"--The New York Times

"A thriller that's fresh and compelling to the end." -- Los Angeles Times

"A taut, stylish, minimalist thriller." -- New York Post

"Brilliantly resourceful. Sensational camerawork...a landmark in diaspora cinema." --Village Voice

OPENING DATES/ THEATERS:

May 26, Cinema Village, 22 East 12 St., NYC 10003 /
212-924-3363

May 26, Landmark NuArt, 11272 Santa Monica, West Los Angeles CA 90025 /
310-281-8223

June 16, Landmark Lumiere, 1572 California St. at Polk, San Francisco CA 94109 / 415-267-4893

June 16, Landmark Hillcrest, 3965 5th Avenue, San Diego CA 92103 /
619-819-0236

June 30, Landmark Varsity, 4329 University Way N.E., Seattle WA 98105 /
206-781-5755

Catch the trailer and get more info on www.cavitemovie.com / also visit www.trulyindie.com..."

---

...So I'm planning a TP outing on May 26th @ the Santa Monica Nuart for anyone that wants to see this movie. Email me at raymond@troyphi.com if you want to go, or leave a comment here.

EDIT: There are 3 showtimes on the 26th, and I'm shooting for the 7:30pm showing. Cavite is being shown at the Nuart for only one week. You might want to buy advance tickets here. No matter what you do, let me know if you are going to this screening.

going to the philippines this summer?

2006-05-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

i know some of you are so....

perhaps you would be interested in blogging about your experiences when you go there? i'll give you posting privileges to this blog so you can blog about your adventures in our homeland. it'd be a great way to let us know what's happening with you and our beloved philippines.

leave a comment below if you'd like to do it.

safe trip to all who go there and everyone else traveling this summer. hope the traffic isn't too bad.

and take lots of pictures!

be aware

2006-04-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

this article is on the april issue of amb -- last one...

---

On Friday, March 31, 2006 (six days after PACN), I, along with Rodney, Mark, Ashley, and Cristina, went to this event in the Glendale Central Library called “2006 Filipino American Centennial Celebration: A Treasured Past, A Future Enriched.” This was commemorating the first significant wave of Filipino migration to the United States.

The Glendale Central Library's auditorium could probably fit around 200-300 people. But only 100 showed up, I think. During the event, a film was shown called “Filipino Americans: Discovering Their Past for the Future.” (Some of you may have already seen this film through APASS last October.) After the film, several people commented about how good the film is and how they did not know anything about Filipino-American history until they watched this film.

This got me thinking....How many of you actually learned anything about Filipino / Filipino-American history during your academic career? Did any of your classes mention it at all? Other than the cultural reports I did in grade school / high school and a brief mention of the Philippine-American War in my high-school Western Civilization class (the textbook called it the Philippine Insurrection – that's not the way to call it anymore), I was never taught anything else about Filipino / Filipino-American history through school.

So how do people become aware of our history and our heritage? Some learn through their families. Perhaps others are lucky enough to have Filipino clubs in high school that make them aware. Perhaps some learn through self-study. But others don't have these resources. That's why I was surprised when, at the event, this man (late 20s – early 30s??) came up to comment on the film and the discussion panel and said that he really didn't know anything about Filipino-American history—until now.

So I encourage you all to be aware. Be aware of Filipino/Filipino-American history so you could tell others about it. Be aware so that you can tell your future children about it. Not a lot of people know about the Filipino-American's struggle to make a living here in America and all the racism / bad policies they had to deal with. They deserve to know.

****

...and so, I end another year of college. Being Community/Culture Chair for this year opened my eyes to the issues surrounding the Filipino-American community in Los Angeles and Filipino-American history in general. I hope that you found this column, the blog, the cultural corner, etc. to be useful in some way.

Thank you all for making this year in TP as special as it is. Thanks for all the memories, from the first meeting to the upcoming formal. Thanks for making SIPA Halloween such a tremendous success. Thanks for making PACN this year as awesome as it was.

Special thanks go to my fellow eboard members; we've gone through a lot, and it has been a privilege working with you all. Special special thanks go to El Presidente, Lisa; thank you for your unrivaled leadership of this organization and for helping me out when I needed it.

I wish all the seniors the best and good luck on your future endeavors. To think that I will be in your position in a year....time indeed flies way too fast.

cultural event announcements

2006-04-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

...so i got onto this new listserv giving me plenty of cultural event announcements in the los angeles area. if i see something interesting, i'll post it up here; at least you'll be aware of what's happening.

1. Filipino American Library Career Forum: Filipino-American Executives in Mainstream Hollywood (4.13, 7pm @ UCLA's Royce Hall)

2. I Shall Return: A Concert for the Benefit of St. Bernard, Leyte (4.15, 6pm @ Glendale Civic Auditorium)

3. Where You Stay -- Exploring The Nature Of LA; a new show by Alison M. De La Cruz

pacn xiv video clip: 'ian's modern piece'

2006-04-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

ian gave me this clip of his modern piece....

pacn xiv video clip: 'sayaw sa bangko'

2006-04-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

this clip contains the solos....my sincere apologies to mondo and cristina...when my dad taped this, he wasn't able to get your part....sorry :(

anyways, here it is

more random pacn xiv practice pictures

2006-03-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

here's more pictures, from the practices....

'gangster alvin' - drawing courtesy of ian

rehearsing the lola's diapers scene

remarkably, they were all in yellow that day

yea, those were some long nights

mark's battle plan

"i'm flying! and playing games at the same time!"

more to come later

pacn video clip: 'i stole lola's diapers'

2006-03-29T08:01:00.000-08:00

2006 filipino american centennial celebration

2006-03-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

i'm going to lead a delegation from troy phi to go to this event on friday, march 31, from 5:30 to 9pm at the glendale public library (literally seconds away from the chevy's we went to earlier this semester). you'll be able to participate in group panel discussion too.

let me know if you want to go. more info on this week's general meeting.

pacn xiv video clip: 'barrelman'

2006-03-28T01:49:00.000-08:00

a truly classic scene.

selected pacn xiv morning pictures

2006-03-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

in an attempt to help ease pacn withdrawals, during the following days i'll post some pictures (maybe even video clips?) of stuff i managed to get my hands on.

so relive the glory that was pacn xiv: our house.

--

the garbage truck we applauded as it passed by that morning
s

notice the stain in the costume

will wore his troy phi shirt backwards that morning

everyone who was on time (sort of) that morning

separated @ birth...?

more to come

pacn xiv: our house

2006-03-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

saturday, march 25.
bovard auditorium.
doors open @ 4:30pm.
preshow starts @ 5pm featuring the abalos pros.
show starts @ 5:30pm.
free admission.

so she lifted it...now what?

2006-03-09T16:22:00.000-08:00

the following appeared in the march issue of amb -- and the last thing you'll hear from me about the s.o.e. crisis and the overall political situation (until they decide to do it again!):

---

The Philippines has been in a lot of world headlines this past month, and almost none of it was good news.

First came the PhilSports Arena tragedy in Manila where a lot of people died while trying to stampede into a stadium that was hosting a popular variety show. Then came the mudslide disaster in Leyte province that claimed the lives of pretty much all the residents in the village of Guinsaugon. And to top it all off, President Arroyo declared a state of emergency because of an alleged coup plot against her.

She just lifted the state of emergency a couple of days ago, and while the happenings in the Philippines aren't gaining worldwide attention at the moment, it's still a pretty big deal over there.

A lot of Arroyo's opponents are still wary of her and are protesting away despite the lifting of the state of emergency. They are angry at her for a lot of reasons.

So what do they have against her anyway...? Here are a couple of reasons:

In EDSA II (2001), Arroyo was sworn in as president by then Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide Jr. (now retired) at the EDSA Shrine. Former President Estrada was forced out of Malacañang Palace that day when his military switched sides. He maintains to this day that he was unlawfully forced out and that he still would have been the legitimate President for the rest of his term.

In July 2005, wiretapped tapes (a lot of debate on whether this was legal or not) surfaced that allegedly prove that President Arroyo rigged the May 2004 presidential elections, working with the head of the Commission of Elections to ensure her victory against her opponent, the widely popular action film star Fernando Poe Jr. (he died in December 2004 due to health reasons).

During her presidency some of her family (specifically her husband) has been linked to the illegal numbers game called jueteng (and the whole Jose Pidal business – that's another story).

Now in February 2006, with her popularity levels really low, she declares a state of emergency (which bans rallies and grants the police the power to unwarranted arrests) and goes on to charge several congressmen, civilians, and military personnel of rebellion. Police then raid a leftist newspaper and do other things that a lot of the world saw as an assault on free press in the Philippines. People protest anyway and continually question the legality of her present and past actions.

Despite the lifting, Arroyo's presidency is still on very shaky ground. It seems like some sort of political crisis happens in the Philippines every 6 months or so. And if the current governmental structure is maintained (meaning it doesn't switch to a parliamentary-style government), Arroyo still has 4 years left in her term (the next presidential elections are in 2010).

For now, this crisis will probably die a slow death. But I wouldn't be surprised if another crisis pops out soon. By then, I shouldn't be surprised.

---

an update on the s.o.e.

2006-02-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

a couple of updates on the situation:

the state of emergency (proclamation 1017), as of today, has not been lifted yet. pres. arroyo is planning to meet with her economic and security advisors to decide whether or not to lift it.
several petitions have been made to the supreme court of the philippines to strike down proclamation 1017; these petitions are questioning the legality of the proclamation (whether the whole thing is constitutional or not). in the meantime, a request for a temporary restraining order against the state of emergency has been denied.
during the state of emergency, police raided an anti-administration newspaper, the daily tribune. this is a newspaper that is obviously against pres. arroyo and has been for a long time. (and it isn't just the opinion section -- look at the stories they run.) an online version of the newspaper is here. because of this and other incidents, a lot of people (in the philippines and abroad) are condemning the state of emergency because it is attacking freedom of the press.
there was also a brief standoff involving several marines against the arroyo administration in fort bonifacio. the colonel that led this was protesting the sacking of his commanding general, and he was calling on civilians to gather around this area in protest. not a lot of people showed up, so these marines backed down.
several civilians, congressmen, and military personnel have been charged with rebellion and conspiracy to overthrow the government. these include gregorio "gringo" honasan (who has been implicated in many coup attempts going back to the aquino administration), reps. satur ocampo , teodoro casino, and joel virador of bayan muna, rep. liza maza of gabriela, and jose ma. sison, the self-exiled leader of the communist party of the philippines (who have an armed wing, the new people's army).

more to come as it develops....

breaking news: president arroyo declares state of emergency

2006-02-24T01:14:00.000-08:00

yeah, this one's the kicker.

from inq7.net:

---
(3rd UPDATE) PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of emergency Friday and warned those planning to grab power that their betrayal will be dealt with under the full force of the law.

Arroyo's declaration is contained in Proclamation 1017, which she signed after a lengthy meeting with Cabinet members and police and military officials in Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

"Ito naman ang babala ko sa mga nagbabalak laban sa bayan, babagsak sa inyong pagtataksil ang buong bigat ng batas [This is my warning to those who plan to grab power, your betrayal will be dealt with under the full force of the law]," Arroyo said in her statement aired live on radio and television.

Arroyo declared a state of emergency hours after the military thwarted a plot to oust her.

Arroyo said she had ordered the arrest of personalities involved in the plot, including their financiers.....

....In the declaration released to media at 11:20 a.m., Arroyo invoked Section 18, Article 7 of the Constitution that allowed the President to call on the armed forces to prevent or suppress rebellion.

The proclamation will also pave the way for warrantless arrests, government takeover of utilities, including media, and a ban on rallies, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said.....
---

the rest of the article is here.
another article from cnn is here.

the following is the complete text of proclamation 1017 (from the pcij blog):

---
MALACAÑANG PALACE
MANILA

PROCLAMATION NO. 1017

PROCLAMATION DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY

WHEREAS, over these past months, elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists — the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine State — who are now in tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted Government elected in May 2004.

WHEREAS, these conspirators have repeatedly tried to bring down the President;

WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;

WHEREAS, this series of actions is hurting the Philippine State — by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country;

WHEREAS, these actions are adversely affecting the economy;

WHEREAS, these activities give totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to intensity their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;

WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions and the State the primary duty of Government;

WHEREAS, the activities above-described, their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of the Filipino people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “ The President…whenever it becomes necessary,…may call out (the) armed forces to prevent or suppress…rebellion…, “ and in my capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.

IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and six.

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
President
Republic of the Philippines
---

this is going to unleash a lot of political chaos in the philippines and could blow up to something big.

expect a lot of rallies against this move (those against this think that this move is a precursor to martial law).

during these times the news radio stations over at www.eradioportal.com really come in handy if you want up-to-the-minute information.

(or look at this inq7 running account of this crisis here.)

one thing to note: saturday (the 25th) is the 20th anniversary of the first people power revolution that brought down marcos.

community film screening: knowledge through exposure

2006-02-22T18:46:00.000-08:00

three short social documentaries developed, directed, and edited by youth media arts project (ymap) youth.

ymap is part of people's core (remember the veteran's meeting).

screening will be held at barnsdall gallery theater in hollywood
4800 hollywood blvd
los angeles ca 90027

screening will be from 6 to 8pm (doors open @ 5:30pm).

admission is free.

contact me at raymond@troyphi.com if you want to come (i'll have a sign up sheet at tomorrow's meeting)

breaking news: hundreds feared dead in philippine mudslide

2006-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

i hate to keep putting up bad news here but...

from cnn...

---
(CNN) -- A mudslide buried hundreds of houses and an elementary school in an eastern Philippine village Friday, killing an estimated 300 people and leaving another 1,500 missing, a Red Cross official said.

"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio DZMM, according to The Associated Press.

"I could not see any house standing anymore."

The initial confirmed death toll was 18, with 53 survivors found, including a child, said Rosette Lerias, the governor of Southern Leyte province. But she and Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said the number of dead was likely to rise into the hundreds.

The mudslide swept through the farming village of Guinsahugon in the municipality of St. Bernard town on Leyte Island, about 670 kilometers (420 miles) southeast of Manila.

The region has been drenched in recent days by heavy rains and flash flooding....

---

the rest of the article is here.
the article page should also have 2 videos. you'll realize after watching this the magnitude of this disaster.

please pray for the dead and missing.

the harana and other filipino courtship/marriage traditions

2006-02-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

this article is from the february edition of amb. just in time for the end of valentine's day.

The above painting is called “Harana” by one Carlos V. Francisco (1957). It shows a musician in the process of wooing a Filipina woman. The tradition of harana was widely used during the Spanish colonial period; nowadays, the practice has died down a bit, but this tradition, as well as other province-specific courtship/marriage rites, still lives on.

Basically a harana is when a man attempts to woo a woman by singing underneath her window during nighttime. The man continues to sing until the woman (if she so chooses) decides to let the man (and whatever company he has) inside her house for refreshments etc. When this happens, it becomes a impromptu mini-soiree of sorts. According to the Zambales Forum web site:

“Once inside, pleasantries are exchanged, sweets are sometimes served, and the serenaders and the young lady take turns singing songs heavy with traditional Tagalog poetry worthy of a Balagtasan.. The nocturnal visit is concluded with the serenaders singing a farewell song called, pamamaalam.”
(http://www.angelfire.com/on4/zambalesforum/musikeros.htm)

Granted, a man with a good voice and/or musical experience will naturally have an advantage when it comes to wooing a woman in this method. But for the young man whose singing voice is well, lacking, not all hope is lost. It was actually common back then for a man to enlist his friends to help him do the harana; he could also hire the best musicians in town if he wanted to.

Besides this tradition, in order for a man to successfully court a woman, he'll have to gain the favor of her parents:

“In the Philippines, if a man wants to be taken seriously by a woman, he has to visit the latter's family and introduce himself formally to the parents of the girl. It is rather inappropriate to court a woman and formalize the relationship without informing the parents of the girl. It is always expected that the guy must show his face to the girl's family. And if a guy wants to be acceptable to the girl's family, he has to give pasalubong (gifts) every time he drops by her family's house. It is said that in the Philippines, courting a Filipina means courting her family as well.”
(http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/love.htm)

The Filipina woman is traditionally expected to be pakipot, or play hard to get. It's one way to measure a man's sincerity. If the man is successful at courting the woman and the two want to get married, he and his parents must do pamamanhikan, or go visit the woman's family and ask for her parents' blessings to marry their daughter. Only after this can the couple be engaged and the wedding date be set.

There are other Filipino courtship/marriage traditions out there, and many of them are province-specific. Here are a couple of examples:

In the province of Leyte, a man who wants to wed into a traditional Filipino family must perform household service or Pangagad to the bride's family in order to show his sincerity and fortitude. This usually lasts for about 1 year.

In the province of Batangas, the groom's parents, relatives, and anyone else involved in the wedding walk from the groom's house to the bride's house in an orderly procession the eve of the wedding day. This is called Bisperas, and this is done in order to bring all materials/food needed to the bride's house to prepare for the wedding feast the next day. “Everything from the cows and chickens, to the vegetables and rice, down to the condiments and the cutlery are carried in the procession” (http://store.escalate.com/store/turoturo/article4.jsp).

In today's world one wouldn't see these traditions practiced by younger, more urban, more “Americanized” Filipinos as often as they were before. But perhaps your parents or grandparents went through these traditions in their younger years.

volunteer volleyball coaches needed @ sipa...and pakiramdaman

2006-02-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

relaying a message i got from sipa's paolo...let me know if you would be interested in volunteering as volleyball coaches @ sipa on saturday mornings and some friday nights...they could use the help.

continuing the excerpts from andres's dictionary of filipino culture and values:

"Pakiramdaman. This is the Filipino way of communicating feelings, emotions, reactions, reprimands, caution through body language. Filipinos are keen on body language--how a person says what he says, his whole composure, the tone of his voice--the totality of the person makes up the whole message. 'Pakiramdaman na lang' is a common expression among Filipino employees when their boss is not so communicative."

tragedy at the philsports arena

2006-02-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

really sad news from manila today.

"OVER 70 people were killed and as many as 201 others were injured Saturday when a stampede broke out at a stadium in Pasig City..."

the rest of the story can be found here.

stampede riots/tragedies have occurred around the world before, and in the past, this sort of tragedy usually occured during major sporting events such as big soccer matches. the heysel and hillsborough stadium tragedies of 1985 & 1989 respectively come to mind. (both involved the english soccer club liverpool fc.)

but this wasn't the case here. this tragedy didn't occur during a major sporting event, even though it was in a sports stadium.

people were stampeding into the stadium to attend a live broadcast of the variety show "wowowee", which was celebrating it's 1st anniversary.

they were going to give away big prizes, such as a million pesos, a house/lot, and a car. and to the poor that comprised the majority of those attending the show, that is a fortune.

obviously the show was cancelled for the day.

sosyal

2006-02-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

from andres's dictionary of filipino culture and values:

"Sosyal. This term has the derogatory connotation of being a social climber. When one belongs to the more affluent class of society and manifests it by following the latest fashion trend, being seen at places where the "beautiful" people are seen, being a member of exclusive clubs, etc, he or she is considered "sosyal." This negative value is also followed by those who wish to be identified with the rich and are called the "trying hard." In the 70's, the term used for the "sosyals" was "burgis."

andres's dictionary of filipino culture and values

2006-01-30T14:43:00.000-08:00

a week ago i was at the glendale public library and stumbled upon a book entitled dictionary of filipino culture and values by tomas d. andres, one of the "leading lecturers, consultants and authors on values education, behavioral sciences, and management" in the philippines. it's basically a dictionary on filipino words, values, and sayings. the stuff that i've read so far is pretty interesting, and i would encourage you to at least look it over if you ever see it in some library or bookstore.

so every other day (until i have to return the book or otherwise) i'll share with you one word/saying/value from the book. i'll be quoting directly from the book, and any biases/opinions that you see (if any) are the author's own.

---

"Oo. This means "yes" in English. Foreigners and critics of Filipino behavior are oftentimes surprised by a positive answer to instructions, only to find later that the same individual did exactly the opposite, without clarifying the instructions. Listed below are possible meanings of a "yes" answer by a Filipino. An average Filipino will say "yes" when:

(1) He does not know;
(2) He is annoyed;
(3) He wants to impress;
(4) He wants to end the conversation;
(5) He half understands the instructions of what is being said;
(6) He is not sure of himself; and
(7) He thinks he knows better than the one speaking to him.

The underlying psychological reason for a Filipino's "yes" is hiya or shame. A Filipino is embarrassed or ashamed to acknowledge that he does not know or he did not understand the instructions thoroughly, so he says yes. Also a Filipino might brag about knowing a certain thing when actually he does not know. In a mother-child relationship, a mother may say yes to her child's request without any intention of doing it; likewise, a child would say yes to his mother without intending to do it."

---

(just curious...do you agree w/ this? does this happen to you....?)

what is the vfa?

2006-01-30T14:40:00.000-08:00

this article was in the january issue of the alam mo ba.

---

On Tuesday of this week news articles from major Philippine news outlets appeared that talked about the United States government rejecting a request from the Philippine government to hand over 4 American GI's that are accused of committing rape on Philippine soil in November. The United States invoked the VFA to back its action up, saying that it grants it custody of the suspects during legal proceedings.

The VFA has been mentioned in the realm of Philippine politics ever since it was incepted in 1998. So what is it, really?

The VFA stands for the Visiting Forces Agreement. The full text can be found in the website http://www.army.mil.ph/miscellaneous/vfa.html.

The Agreement basically grants the United States the ability to send its soldiers over to the Philippines during peacetime for war exercises. A synopsis from the Department of Foreign Affairs reads:

“The VFA, in essence, is a mechanism for regulating the circumstances and conditions under which United States forces may visit the Philippines for bilateral military exercises. The VFA governs the entry and exit of U.S. personnel in the country and establishes the manner of disposing of criminal cases against any of its members, who commits an offense in the Philippines. The VFA also establishes a procedure for resolving differences in that may arise between the two sides with regard to the provisions of the agreement.”

Now this agreement has been controversial from day one because there is a very vocal leftist sector in the Philippines that is very anti-American and would rather not see these exercises happen. The supporters of the VFA insist that it is not a launching pad for the United States to open up military bases in the Philippines again (they've closed the bases since 1992 I believe) etc.

The big question regarding the VFA now is who gets custody of US military personnel who commit crimes under Philippine law during their stay in the Philippines. The debate still rages on as to who does, and it has recently intensified due to the recent rape charges leveled against the 4 American GI's in November. Knowing how slow the Philippine courts can be sometime, it could take a while before many of the issues surrounding the VFA are resolved; expect it to appear in the news again in the future.

the black nazarene procession

2006-01-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

photo by rene dilan.

january 9 is the feast of the black nazarene, and every year a procession is held in quiapo (a district of manila) that features a black statue of Christ carrying the cross on His way to calvary being paraded about. this is quiapo's annual fiesta.

An excerpt from the wikipedia entry regarding this subject:

"For more than 200 years the church has been placing the statue on a gilded carriage every January and pulling it through the streets of Quiapo. People who touch it are reported to sometimes be healed of diseases. Catholics come from all over Manila on the chance that they will be able to get close enough to touch the image and perhaps receive a miracle. They also throw towels to the police who guard the statue and ask them to rub the towel on the statue in hopes of carrying some of that power away with them."

the entry also says that this statue was made by an aztec carpenter, and that a priest bought it in mexico; the statue was then transported to manila in 1606.

eight years ago, the church housing the black nazarene started parading a replica of the head of the statue along with the original body due to repeated damages on the statue. the damages are perhaps in part due to the estimated 500,000 people that take part in the procession every year, with many of them desperately trying to get as close to the statue as they can. the guys in the yellow vests are charged with protecting the statue and keeping the procession going.

the photo above was from this year's procession. this was before a stampede broke out during the procession, killing 1 and injuring 20 others. article about that here.

according to the article, such a tragedy has never happened before.

edit: i also found a video (very grainy though) that covers this event. it's in tagalog. (might not work in firefox) (link might change in a couple of hrs.)

philippines 2005 year in review

2005-12-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

ok, so i put a new template in (made by lilia ahner; from blogger templates); i was getting tired of the old one.

---

so looking back at the year 2005, this has been one of the more interesting non-major election years the philippines has seen.

it was a crazy year politically, as always. this year arguably saw the greatest threat to arroyo's administration yet. the threat started at around june-july (the birth of this blog) with accusations backed by (illegal?) wiretapped conversations that pres. arroyo rigged last year's presidential elections that pitted her against fernando poe jr. (whose 1-year death anniversary just passed a week or two ago). massive rallies were staged, many people within her administration resigned, and numerous impeachment complaints were levied against her; yet somehow, arroyo remains president today.

today the official government website posted a list of arroyo's 2005 accomplishments (you can download the .doc file here). of course, her critics will dismiss most if not all of this.

other notable news events in the year 2005 include the avian flu scare early in the year, the bagong diwa prison uprising in taguig, metro manila in march (which led to the deaths of several top abu sayyaf (terrorist group) leaders), the implementation of the extended value-added tax law, arroyo forming a consultative commission to look into changing the 1987 constitution (charter change), and the straining of philippine-u.s. relations due to rape accusations of a 22-yr. filipina against 6 u.s. servicemen in subic late in the year.

a decent top stories review from the manila standard today can be found here.

in terms of the economy and business, the philippines, like the rest of the world, had to deal with oil prices surging to unprecedented levels this year. once again, the overseas filipino workers save the day for the philippine economy; remittances are now at $8.8 billion, up 27.1% from $6.9 billion in 2004. the philippine peso is now at around 53 to the dollar, a 5.7% gain from the beginning of the year. it wasn't all good though; high inflation and lower than expected farm output and electronic exports temper the good news a bit....

a good rp business year in review can be found here.

in terms of culture and entertainment, philippine arts and entertainment are being directed even more by young people. a good summary of what happened this year can be found here.

interesting fact: in metro manila, the major shopping malls (megamall, robinsons, greenbelt, and the like) report a 12% increase in sales; supposedly, most of the items sold were of better than before.

in the field of sports, filipinos everywhere closely followed the exploits of boxing star manny pacquiao, who has elevated himself to megastar, "national hero" status. although he lost to erik morales earlier this year, he is set to take him on again early 2006. also, the philippines won a staggering amount of gold medals in this year's southeast asian games which they hosted.

---

within the filipino-american community, it's hard to get a year in review together from what i can get from the web, but from my own observations here in l.a., it was a good year. even more filipino-oriented establishments are popping up in areas where filipinos are prominent. the philippine television station gma have launched their international station, gma pinoytv, in l.a. this year (as well as san francisco) to go along with what abs-cbn already has here in tfc.
politician ruby de vera finished third place for councilmember of district 14 in los angeles (mayor villaraigosa's old position in the eagle rock/glassell park area). all the fil-am community events i went to this year (consulate family day, fpac, veteran's day parade, and numerous sipa events) went smoothly and have been great successes.

and that's 2005 in a nutshell.

---

so thanks to everyone who has read this blog since its inception. since it's the end of the year, if any of you have any suggestions as to how to improve this blog, what i should cover more (or less), etc., please let me know. i haven't received any outside contributions yet to this blog, so if you have something to say, let me know too....

---

here's to wishing everyone in troy phi a happy new year.
may 2006 be the greatest year of our lives.

hey look, the president's surfing

2005-12-27T22:40:00.000-08:00

ok, i just had to put this up.

photo by vic alhambra of the ap (via manilatimes.com) showing president arroyo surfing in san juan, la union province on her xmas vacation.

i suppose it's a good way to promote tourism in la union....

year in review in a day or two.

wishing everyone a merry christmas

2005-12-24T00:08:00.000-08:00

photo by melyn r. acosta.

here's to wishing everyone in troy phi a merry christmas. hope you all have a lot of fun during winter break like the president above in her xmas party with the malacanang press corps.

i'll have a "year in review" of sorts regarding 2005 rp events before the year is done.

the 23rd s.e.a. games - cheating, or just plain dominance?

2005-11-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

ok, so just as the procrastinating person said in the chis box, the philippines did indeed destroy malaysia in baseball 38-0 in the 23rd southeast asian games (sea games). this was largely due to the philippines scoring twenty-two runs in the second inning. you can read more about it here.

according to the medal count here, at the time of this post the philippines leads all countries with 57 gold medals, 36 silver, and 45 bronze.

now the games are being held in the philippines this year. in 2003 vietnam held the games and came away with the most gold medals (150). the philippines didn't accuse vietnam of cheating during that year....

so now the philippines is leading in the gold medal count, and the thai premier thaksin had this to say:

"I have been following the SEA Games closely and believe that the Games should exist to help athletes lift their standards...It should not be about winning gold medals...the organizer aims only to favor its own athletes."

jaruk areerajakaran, secretary-general of thailand’s olympic committee, also had this to say:

"It is hard to win in the Games since the hosts are cheating."

joey romasanta, spokesperson of the philippine olympic committee, fired back in reply:

"It is premature for the Prime Minister to suggest that we are favoring our athletes. It is too early in the SEA Games. He should not have said that...So far we have had only wu shu and tae kwon do, where human judgment has been involved. But all of you saw how our athlete Criselda Roxas lost to a Thai in the tae kwon do finals Tuesday. So how can we be favoring our own performers?”

more about this here.

since i can't watch the games from here, i wouldn't know which side is right. nevertheless, it's a good thing that the philippines is doing well in these games, which for rather complex reasons (which i can't go into right now) does not include the most popular sport in the philippines, basketball, this year.

these results may cause one to ask....if the philippines is doing so well in these games, why not the olympics?

the philippines didn't get a single medal in athens, and have never scored a gold medal in its history (although onyok velasco came close in atlanta).

who will be the first one? when?

on the issue of full equity for filipino veterans of the second world war

2005-11-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

on friday, november 11 (from 9am-5pm) people's core and justice for filipino-american veterans will hold the 5th annual veterans day parade and march for recognition, justice, and full equity for filipino veterans of the second world war. tp will send a group to take part in this parade. if you are free early friday morning, i strongly encourage you to join us.

---

so if you went to the veteran's panel meeting on october 27 you should already know how important this issue is for the filipino veterans and the filipino-american community. but for the rest of you, here's a brief overview.....

during the second world war, an estimated 200,000 filipinos served under the united states flag. they risked their lives and suffered through many atrocities such as the bataan death march to defend/retake the philippines and ultimately fought for a united states victory. you'd figure that fighting alongside american soldiers and suffering through the same atrocities as they did, the filipino veterans would receive the same u.s. veteran's benefits as everyone else would; however, this was not to be the case.

the 1946 recission act deprived the filipino world war ii veterans from these benefits. among the foreign u.s. veterans of 66 countries, the the veterans from the philippines were the only ones denied these benefits. many of the filipino veterans have not received these benefits to this day.

recently some progress has been made. you can read more about the following from an la times article written by richard simon here. in 2003 a measure was passed that "extends full war-related disability pension and burial benefits to about 100 filipino veterans and 400 soldiers' widows living in the united states. they previously received benefits at half the rate paid to u.s. veterans" (simon). another passed measure in 2003 extended "veterans affairs health benefits to an estimated 7,000 surviving filipino world war ii veterans living in the united states" (simon).

this is good progress, but the fight is far from over. the filipino veterans are still fighting for...

"a broader package of U.S. veterans' benefits, including full access to VA health care for the estimated 21,000 Filipino World War II veterans living in the Philippines. They also seek pensions for low-income veterans: up to $800 a month for those living in the United States and $100 a month for those in the Philippines." (simon)

today there are 2 bills in congress addressing this issue, hr 302 and s 146.

currently these bills have been read and referred to the committee of veteran's affairs. if these bills are passed all filipino veterans will finally have the full equity that they have been unjustly denied. the bills, however, face a long and hard road to passage primarily due to a congress that is trying to cut the budget deficit and deal with iraq and social security at the same time.

--

despite the importance of this issue there is not enough awareness about it amongst the filipino-american community and the mainstream populace. the veteran's day parade march hopes to raise that awareness.

again, the parade is on friday, november 11, starting at 9am at historic filipinotown. if you're free and haven't left for weekender yet, i strongly encourage you to come.

here's a link to the american coalition for filipino veterans site for more information about the issue.

on thanksgiving in the philippines

2005-11-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

ok, sorry about not updating this for a while; midterms and papers have been taking most of my time.

anyway, here's the article i wrote for the november issue of the alam mo ba, due out today.

Filipinos in the Philippines don't really celebrate Thanksgiving in late November like the people in the United States do. Actually, many Filipinos aren't really aware of when Thanksgiving is actually celebrated in the Philippines.

Thanksgiving in the Philippines is celebrated on September 21. There were other dates that were considered to celebrate Thanksgiving before the decision to make it the 21st was made. When Prof. Gabriel Fabella succeeded in changing the day of celebrating Philippine Independence from July 4 to June 12, he also proposed that July 4 become Thanksgiving Day in the Philippines. But that never happened.

The decision to celebrate Thanksgiving on 9/21 came in 1974, when President Marcos declared it a "national thanksgiving day". This was also the anniversary of his declaration of martial law; many think he declared Thanksgiving on this day in an attempt to conceal the repressive character of his dictatorship.

Perhaps it's the fact that it was Marcos who declared the 21st Thanksgiving that not too many people know about it or celebrate it. Nevertheless, Filipinos show thanksgiving all the time through the multitudes of festivals held in different parts of the country throughout the year. Here's a couple of examples:

The Ati-Atihan festival in Kalibo, Panay (3rd weekend of January) is like a Filipino "Mardi Gras"; it celebrates thanksgiving and the anniversary of the sale of Panay island to Malaysian immigrants from the Ati tribespeople.

The Carabao Festival (feast of San Isidro) is held on May 15 in the farming towns of San Isidro, Pulilan, and Angono (all north of Manila). A parade is held on this day to give thanks and pay homage to the carabao, "the farmer's best friend."

The Hari-Raya Puasa is a thanksgiving feast among the Muslim communities in the Philippines. This commemorates Ramadan--the 29-day Muslim fast--and is a fast-breaking holiday. It is held on the first day of the ninth lunar month in the Muslim calendar (changes every year--this year the fast began on early October).

So even if Filipinos in general don't really know when Thanksgiving is formally celebrated in the Philippines, there are a ton of festivals happening throughout the year that essentially do the job that Thanksgiving does here--all in unique ways.

Besides, around this time of year, Filipinos are already playing Christmas tunes on the radio.

an overview of filipino-american history

2005-10-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

the following is my column for the october issue of alam mo ba.

---

Since October is Filipino-American History Month, here is a brief overview of Filipino-American history that I hope you'll find useful and informative....
___

The first Filipinos to land in America came via the Spanish galleon trade that existed from 1565-1815. The trade route went from Manila to Acapulco, with several stops in Spanish America. Filipinos, who were also known back then as Luzon Indians or Manila Men, were often part of the crew, and some of them wanted desperately to escape Spanish brutalities.

According to Filipino-American history researcher and Barrio Fiesta speaker Eloisa Gomez Borah, the first Filipinos in America landed in Morro Bay, California, on October 17, 1587. They were part of the crew and landing party of the Spanish galleon Nuesta Senora de Buena Esperanza, with Pedro de Unamuno as captain. Other Filipinos deserted other Spanish galleons during the galleon trade era and settled in other places in California and in Louisiana.

When the City of Los Angeles was founded in 1781, Filipino Antonio Miranda Rodriguez was chosen to be one of the original settlers of the city. He later became the ironsmith for the Santa Barbara mission.
___

When the Philippines became a United States territory in 1898, the US Navy started to enlist Filipinos as stewards and mess boys. This begins what Marina Claudio-Perez says is the first of three waves of Filipino immigration into the United States.

From 1903-1934, a small group of Filipinos (about 500) came to the United States to study at American schools. They came to be known as the pensionados, for they were subsidized by a modest stipend from the government because they were the best Filipino students. At the same time a large number of Filipinos, mostly bachelors, came to work as agricultural workers in San Francisco and Seattle or as sugar plantation workers in Hawaii. Many of them were Ilocanos, and the elder bachelors were called Manongs, a term of respect for elderly men.
___

The second wave of Filipino immigration to the US came after World War II, when US Congress passed the War Brides Act. The act allowed Filipino servicemen from WWII American units to migrate to the US along with their dependents. The US Navy in 1946 stopped recruiting Filipinos because the Philippines was now an independent country; however, in 1947the Military Bases Agreement between the US and the Philippines allowed the Navy to again recruit Filipino citizens, who would gain US citizenship after a number of years in the service. Many of these Filipinos ended up moving to America.
___

The third wave began in 1965, when the US Immigration and Nationality Act greatly increased the annual number of Filipinos migrating to the US to 20,000. It was then that many Filipino professionals moved to the US in search for a better life and better jobs/opportunities. In 1970 the US Navy allows Filipinos to enter into any occupational rating. The trend of Filipinos migrating to the US continues to this day, when many are coming to the US for jobs etc., especially open nursing positions.
___

Throughout all of Filipino-American history, racism and discrimination laws against Filipinos were a major problem. They were affected by many anti-miscegenation laws around the country, and it was not until 1967 that all anti-miscegenation statutes in the US were wiped out. Some Filipinos were frequently harassed and run out of their homes and towns. Some laws such as the 1937 Anti-Alien Land Law in Washington state forbade Filipinos from owning or leasing land. When the influx of Filipino professionals came in 1965, a significant number couldn't practice their profession due to racism/discrimination and prejudice in the work force and lack of opportunity. Today most racism/discrimination against Filipinos is gone; however, to say that it is non-existent in America today would be a mistake.
___

So that ends my brief overview of Filipino-American history. There is so much more out there regarding this subject; however, space limits me to this much. We as Filipino-Americans should continue to learn more about our own history and recognize those before us who overcame so many obstacles to settle in America and live the American dream.
___

Websites where I got info:

http://www.library.ca.gov/assets/acrobat/filipino.pdf
http://www.capaa.wa.gov/filipinoamericans.html
http://personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/egbgalle.htm
http://personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/chronology.pdf

filipino spy? in the white house?

2005-10-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

picture from cnn (sketch: christine cornell)

so today we find out that a former marine, leandro aragoncillo (a naturalized us citizen) had allegedly misused his top-secret fbi clearance to steal classified info and sent it to people in the philippines. (article on cnn here.)

now why in the world would he do this? the philippines, a long-standing ally of the us, has absolutely no reason to spy on it....

well apparently, some say that among the stuff he stole was a classified dossier on president arroyo, and that he passed it along to her political opposition. so what would the opposition need the dossier for? a coup? conspiracy theory.....??

ok, enough with that direction...again, these are all allegations right now, so things will get settled pretty soon. will the media cover it? maybe.........

---

looking around the web today...i found a good resource/link site for filipino-american history / culture, so check it out here. resources compiled by the lemieux library.

navy links etc.

2005-10-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

ok, sorry for not updating this for a while...now that barrio fiesta is over, i'll actually have some time to post in this blog.

---

two weeks ago in my KSK segment i talked a little about the state of the philippine navy today....

here's the official navy webpage. of interest here are their downloadable video clips.
here's a link to the trillanes papers i talked about. it's very long and detailed...read if you want, and decide for yourself...

---

...so october is filipino-american history month. barrio fiesta was held to commemorate it, and one of the speakers in the event was one eloisa gomez borah.

i highly recommend visiting her website (in the other links of interest section) which details some of her works.

---

more to come soon. i mean it, really.

fight results and the current state of filipinotown

2005-09-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

first, fight results from saturday...manny ko'd velazquez in 6, and viloria ko'd ortiz in 1 (they only showed the ko on hbo).

i totally forgot to mention rey "boom boom" bautista, the 3rd filipino who fought that saturday. he ko'd his opponent murillo in 3. (unfortunately, i can't find a pic of him online).

so w/ all of them winning, filipinos everywhere rejoiced...it's something that'll lift the spirits of the poor masses amidst the political crisis.

---

in other news, there was a good read @ the la times today regarding the current state of historic filipinotown. the article was entitled "filipinotown searching for its center" by wendy lee and can be found here. (registration req. -- try using bugmenot).

the article is pretty accurate. i sometimes go through historic filipinotown in my commute home from usc, and it's pretty much what the article says. any development though imo is going to take a while.

thanks to cher for telling me about the article.

impeachment, mountain climbers, and manny / brian

2005-09-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

so here's a couple of links regarding the stuff i mentioned last meeting in the first kuwentong sa kanto segment.

inq7: how the house voted

here you'll see how every member of the philippine house of representatives voted to either pass or reject the impeachment complaints against pres. arroyo.

the "failed to vote" list has pretty big names...

inq7: rp everest team scales peak

read up on the story of filipino mtn. climbers preparing to climb mt. everest in 2007.

maxboxing: pacquiao
maxboxing: viloria

preview articles on both manny and brian's fights @ staples center this saturday (the 10th).

don't forget, fpac (festival of philippine arts and culture) this weekend.

go manny!

go brian!

filipinos in los angeles: a primer

2005-09-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

this is my column from this year's 1st issue of alam mo ba, due out today at the first meeting.

--

First of all, I'd like to bid all the new members welcome to USC and Troy Philippines. I hope that you'll stick around and experience all the cultural/social events and cultural-learning opportunities we have to offer. As past members have said, the more involved you are in Troy Phi, the more you'll get out of it. So again, welcome to the family that is Troy Philippines.

As this year's Community/Culture Chair, it is my job to promote the cultural & service aspect of the organization. In an attempt to do just that, I'll be writing this column, The Third Window, which will appear monthly in the Alam Mo Ba newsletter and will highlight topics relating to Filipino / Filipino-American culture and current events. I also maintain a blog called the TP Culture Blog that I try to update weekly that covers pretty much the same thing. You can visit the website at http://tpculture.blogspot.com.

--

Anyone who's been in Los Angeles long enough can tell you that there are many Filipinos living in the Greater LA area. Out of the 2,364,815 Filipinos in the United States alone (2000 Census), 101,062 live in LA itself, with many more living in the surrounding suburbs.

When Filipinos started to come to LA as early as the 1920s (probably earlier—heck, one of the co-founders of LA, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, was Filipino), they tended to settle in the same place. Eventually, Filipino enclaves developed; one of the oldest enclaves was in an area near Downtown LA 10-15 min. north of USC that is now known as Historic Filipinotown. Nowadays the population of these older, poorer Filipino enclaves have declined as more “economically better” areas have seen a rise in Filipino population as more Filipino immigrants and those already living here are more stable financially and are better educated than the Filipinos that came in the early 1900s.

Today, if you ask someone who lives here where all the Filipinos live in Greater Los Angeles, they would probably tell you that they live in cities such as Carson, Glendale/Eagle Rock, West Covina, Panorama City, etc. I live in Eagle Rock (20 min. northeast of USC), and I can immediately see the impact of Filipinos in my neighborhood. A lot of Filipinos live in my street. Two blocks away from my house there's a popular place called Toto's where you could buy lechon manok, crispy pata, Filipino barbecue, etc. Go a couple of blocks south and you'll see 2 busy Filipino seafood markets.

In Carson (south of USC) there is a very large population of Filipinos (16,905). A lot of Filipino businesses from the Philippines that want to expand in Southern California usually start here (Jolibee and Chowking for example). For a time Carson had a Filipino mayor, Pete Fajardo. Fajardo is currently in jail right now after he admitted to taking bribes.
West Covina (east of USC) has a “Little Manila” at Azusa Ave. and Amar Rd. where there are many Filipino restaurants, video stores, and gift shops. Southeast of West Covina is the city of Walnut, which had a Filipino mayor as well, Tony Cartagena. He is currently part of Walnut's City Council.

So when you travel around LA you won't go far before you see Filipinos. You can't miss them. And if you ask them if they like living here, many of them would say they're happy with their situation in Los Angeles, despite all the flaws this city has.

--

Websites where i got info from:
http://www.ci.walnut.ca.us/
http://personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/filfaqs.htm
http://www2.sgvtribune.com/livinghere/cityprofile/westcovina
http://www.lmu.edu/csla/community/students_projects/philipino/
http://losangeles.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm
http://carson.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm

welcome!

2005-08-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

first, i want to bid all the new students welcome to usc and troy philippines.

as i said when i first started doing this, the troy phi culture blog is an effort to better emphasize the culture aspect of the organization. throughout the year i'll be writing about random filipino/filipino-american culture topics of interest, current events, local celebrations, and announcements. i'd want others to contribute to this blog as well. if you have anything to contribute to this blog, email me your post at tpcultureblog@gmail.com and i'll post it up for you.

---

so ever since i started the blog i've been putting up links to various sites on the internet that serve as a good resource to anyone that wants to know a bit more about filipino/filipino-american culture. here's a brief overview on all of them:

philippine news sites: philippine daily inquirer, manila times, philippine star, manila bulletin, malaya, abs-cbn news, philippine center for investigative journalism

-- these are the main philippine news sites. once you start reading them on a regular basis, you'll see some of their biases on whether they're pro-administration or not, etc. they're the best way to keep up with what's going on in the philippines. the pcij site goes more in-depth on the subject of philippine politics; i first got the now infamous "gloria-garci" tapes from this site.

(btw, garciliano fled the philippines and everyone's in a big uproar over that; first to singapore, then to the uk, as confirmed by the dfa, the department of foreign affairs. now sen. pimentel claims he's in new jersey w/ his daughter. article here.)

fil-am organizations: sipa, fil-am arts

-- sipa (search to involve filipino americans) is based in historic filipinotown (north of usc). their mission is "to enhance the quality of life of Filipino Americans and other communities through youth development, health, economic, and social services." we volunteer a lot w/ sipa; one of the events we help them out with is sipa halloween, where we set up a haunted house for the children around historic filipinotown.

-- filam arts is an association that works for the advancement of filipino arts and culture here. their biggest annual event is the festival of philippine arts and culture (which we volunteer in every year), which is held in pt. fermin, san pedro (south of usc) on sep. 10-11. on the 11th we're getting a bus to get volunteers to pt. fermin from 1-6pm. if you're interested in volunteering email me at raymond@troyphi.com.

multimedia / entertainment: eradioportal.com, philmusic.com, gma 7, abs-cbn

-- eradioportal.com gives free access to several philippine am/fm radio stations. the news stations dzbb and dzrh are the best way to keep up w/ any breaking news that's going on in the philippines. you can hear a lot of filipino singers / artists in the other stations here. philmusic.com is an excellent resource on past and present philippine singers / artists. gma and abs-cbn are the two biggest tv networks/ entertainment powerhouses in the philippines.

other sites of interest: hagonoy, bulacan, philippine consulate general los angeles, social weather stations

-- these were random websites i found interesting. hagonoy, bulacan is my ancestral hometown. if you can read tagalog, it's a great way to get a sense of what a philippine provinical town is like. the philippine consulate general los angeles is pretty self-explanatory. if you have passport issues etc., you'll want to go here. social weather stations conducts many polls that include presidential satisfaction ratings, how people feel about poverty, corruption, and other issues in the philippines today.

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so i'll be adding more links as i find them.
until then, take care.
first general meeting's on 9/1 5:45pm @ SGM 123.

cooking for the president

2005-08-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

image from
superchefblog.com.

we send our congratulations to filipina-american cristeta comerford, who on the 14th became the first woman to be named white house executive chef. first lady laura bush selected her after a 6-month evaluation/selection period. the article from the new york times detailing the selection can be found here.

she came to the united states from the philippines when she was 23, having earned a bachelor's degree in food technology from the university of the philippines. she also studied french cuisine working in austria.

as executive chef, she's basically the private chef of the bush family. she'll also get the chance to showcase her culinary talents in state dinners; however, the bush administration has held very few state dinners (only 5). comerford did prepare the menu for the state dinner in 2003 honoring president arroyo when she made her state visit to the united states that year.

so maybe she can get president bush to like filipino food...then again, he is a known health nut, as he loves to exercise and eats only light meals.

the jueteng problem

2005-08-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

there's a long and detailed article in the front page of the la times today (8/9) entitled "filipinos miss the jackpot" by bruce wallace. you can find an online version of the article here (use bugmenot to bypass registration).

the article is pretty accurate. jueteng is an illegal numbers game that is commonplace in the philippines. an overview of how the game works can be found here. it's more prevalent in the provinces. this game is very powerful indeed; it made those who run the games extremely rich, sucking income from the poor (as many critics say), contributed to the downfall of former pres. erap estrada and potentially the downfall of pres. arroyo.

jueteng plays a huge role in the politics of the philippines. the current impeachment charges levied against arroyo accuse her of accepting jueteng payoffs to finance her 2004 presidential campaign. her husband and son are accused of accepting payoffs too.

in 2001, erap was forced out of office amid allegations that he accepted jueteng payoffs. the whistleblower who called him out, luis "chavit" singson, is a self-acknowledged jueteng lord. and no, he isn't in jail for that; he is currently the governor of ilocos sur province, and his family remains a political dynasty in the province.

so the question remains: how do you solve the jueteng corruption problem? some people have gone as far as suggesting its legalization....

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just a reminder, "the great raid" opens on aug. 12....i've emailed everyone in tp about it, so again, if you want to come watch it w/ me and other members that night, email me at ople@usc.edu. showtimes for theatres around here aren't available yet; i'll let you all know about it when i find out...

--- update (8/10): for those who are going, we are going to watch this movie friday, august 12, at the Glendale Exchange 10 (128 n. maryland ave. glendale ca 91206). Showtime is at 10:00pm. if you haven't done so, please email me at ople@usc.edu if you want to go just so i know how many people are going. also email me if you need directions.

if anyone's up for dinner before the movie, there's a bunch of restaurants around the area....zono sushi...tony roma's...manila buffet...maurizio's italian kitchen.....if any of you are interested, email me your preference and when you want to meet....

regarding "the great raid"; rescue at cabanatuan

2005-08-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

some of you may have seen the ads for this already, but if you haven't, a movie entitled "the great raid" is opening in us theatres on aug. 12. the movie is about the most daring and successful raid done by american rangers and filipino guerrillas in world war ii: the rescue of allied prisoners of war from the japanese at a prison camp in cabanatuan, nueva ecija province. (imdb link of the movie is here).

this movie had been delayed for a couple of years, but it's finally out. an article from malaya about its premiere on 7/28 is here. a very detailed account of what actually happened is here -- a very good read.

notable filipino actors that are in this movie include cesar montano (played jose rizal in the 98 movie and fredo in muro-ami/reef hunters) and paolo montalban (raul in american adobo and the prince in the 97 cinderella tv movie -- the one w/ brandy). in this movie montano is capt. juan pajota, the filipino guerrilla area commander at cabu.

from watching the trailer, the major emphasis of the movie seems to be the heroism of the american rangers and the raid itself. looks like there's a love story in this film too. it'll be interesting to see how much screen time the filipinos get in this film as well as how everyone (american, filipino, and japanese) is portrayed.

again, the film comes out on aug. 12...if anyone in tp wants to watch it w/ me that night, drop me a line.

sona 2005 @ 1am (pacific) 7/25/05

2005-07-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

for those staying up tonight, the 2005 philippine sona (state of the nation address) is going on @ 7/25 4pm over there (which means 1am pacific time). you can go here for more info and watch live video when it happens. if that doesn't work, go here and click on the news stations (dzbb or dzrh) to listen to it.

it'll be interesting to see how gma explains herself. some of the opposition are boycotting this, and massive protests are sure to happen outside.

updates and pi motor vehicles

2005-07-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

first, an update on the political situation in the pi...

um well nothing big has happened yet. although there are many groups joining the "gma resign" bandwagon, the bishops and the military haven't joined it yet. this is in addition to former president fidel v. ramos's now public support of arroyo. so unless she gets impeached or something really crazy happens, she's going to remain in power.

arroyo's big day is on the 25th, when she has to make the state of the nation address. you know the protests will be waiting outside the batasan pambansa.

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from motioncars.com

can you name the car above?

this is the honda jazz, one of the cars sold in the philippines that's either not sold here or sold here in a different name.

one of my cousins from the pi recently came to la for 2 weeks. he loves cars, and he told me about this neat site. it's one of the best places to go to if you want to know more about all the different kinds of cars that help make traffic in manila a living hell.

when i was there 2 years ago the suv was very popular. yeah they used up a ton of gas but the suv helps in 2 ways imo: they help you get through minor flooding and the hundreds of buses that'll try to run you over in edsa will sorta take you more seriously....or maybe not.

any of you out there ever try to drive in philippine traffic?
i can say that i drove a car once in the philippines...sure it was in a gated subdivision w/ no traffic, but hey....

driving over there is well, different.

filipinos and baseball

2005-07-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

with the mlb all-star game tomorrow, i decided to take a look at the state of philippine baseball today. the info is out there online but a bit hard to find.

philippine baseball has a glorious past. the game was introduced during the u.s. colonial period in the philippines. it was pretty popular in the 30s when the rizal memorial stadium was built.

picture from titansbaseballclub.org.

there was also a renaissance in the 50s when according to this the ny yankees visited the philippines and put on quite a show.

right now, though, it's pretty bad. basketball is by far the dominant sport in the philippines, and as with all sports over there, funds for training players and building good facilities are far from adequate. when i visited 2 years ago, my cousins loved to talk about the nba w/ me. and during my stay there i heard nothing about the sport of baseball.

my best memory of anything related to philippine baseball is unfortunately a dubious one. i do remember watching the 1992 little league world series on tv w/ my parents when a team from zamboanga city in mindanao crushed the long beach team 14 to 4. some time later though, the philippine team was stripped of their title when it was discovered that the team had players that lived outside of zamboanga city and that were over the age limit. from that point i stopped hearing about the philippines' participation in little league baseball.

despite all this, however, baseball still thrives among some filipinos. although not too well-known, there are several recreational teams/leagues in the metro manila area and elsewhere. several filipinos have made it to the major leagues, most notably benny agbayani (born in hawaii), most known for his stint w/ the new york mets. another filipino player who made it was one bobby chouinard, although looking at his profile here his career ended on a bad note.

picture taken from here

the above photo is of one bobby balcena, the first known filipino to play in major league baseball. although he didn't play that much in the majors, he played many years in the minors, specifically in the pacific coast league. he died in 1990.

balcena is the great uncle of current ucla softball player jodie legaspi. this article written in late may gives more detail about both of them.

baseball in the philippines isn't getting much attention right now, but recently softball did. check this out; a team from bacolod city won the jr. softball world series just 2 years ago.

it's falling apart...again

2005-07-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

picture from reuters.

first, some bad news....

if you thought the may 1, 2001 "edsa iii" was the last mass protest you'd see in the philippines, well...the chances of another one happening soon is pretty great. actually, i'm surprised it hasn't happened yet; i keep checking here to see if there's a mass number of people in the flyover, but no, not yet.

anyway, it all started when a tape surfaced about 2-3 weeks ago that contained many wiretapped phone conversations of the philippine president gloria macapagal-arroyo, comelec commissioner virgilio garciliano (the guy responsible for assuring fair elections in the philippines...haha) and several other men. (you can download the 3-hour tape in tagalog here). these tapes allegedly prove that pres. arroyo (gma from this point) cheated her way to victory over her main opponent, fernando poe jr. (who's now deceased) in the 2004 presidential elections. there's talk about how the action of doing the wiretaps were illegal, not that it really matters right now.

this roused those oppostion militant groups to start calling for gma to resign, and gma was mum on the issue for quite a while, merely dismissing the tapes as doctored and fake.

then in a speech at the end of june, she said "i'm sorry." sorry for cheating? no, she was sorry for calling garciliano, explaining that she was anxious to protect her votes and to know the results of the election (which takes at least a month to tally all the votes--there's no computerized vote tallying there yet).

that move basically roused even more people against her and calling for her resignation. the widow of fernando poe jr., susan roces, was, well, rather pissed, and she showed it in dramatic fashion in her press conference calling on gma to resign.

now yesterday she basically told her cabinet to quit. 10 members of her cabinet did so and then held a press conference calling for her to resign. then all the parties and vips started doing the same thing. former pres. cory aquino wants gma to resign. bro. eddie villanueva, head of the jesus is lord movement (who also ran for pres. in 2004 btw), wants gma to resign. you can be sure her ousted predecessor erap estrada wants her out too.

...and now we wait for the thousands of people being paid to show up at the edsa shrine. okay, maybe i'm exaggerating, but it's been done before.

it sucks that this has to happen all over again. we just can't seem to learn from past mistakes.
oh well, i'll update this when more things go down.

oh, there'll be positive things in this blog too....

greetings and salutations.

2005-07-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

hello everyone. welcome to the tp culture blog.

in an effort to better emphasize the culture part of the organization, i've decided to start this thing. i'll be talking about pretty much anything that comes to mind regarding filipino / filipino-american culture and current events. i'll post any noteworthy culture announcements / events here too.

if you have anything you want to add to this culture blog, email me your post at tpcultureblog@gmail.com and i'll post it to the blog.

oh and uh if any opinions make their way to this blog, they're those of the individual writer of the post and not of any institution (like usc) or anyone else, ok? alright!

let us begin....