Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
UP forum on freedom to information
announcement
everyone is invited to attend a forum/seminar at the UP Diliman Malcolm Theater (College of Law) this coming October 1, 2010 from 1-4 pm.
for details regarding the right to information, please see the video below.
for my students who are going to attend please tell me so that i could coordinate with my UP classmates. I also need the list of the names of the PLM students for some incentives.
Some of the speakers are Congresswoman Hontiveros, Atty. Barry Guttierez, and others.
if you have have questions, please text or email me. also please pass to others who might be interested.
see you there.
everyone is invited to attend a forum/seminar at the UP Diliman Malcolm Theater (College of Law) this coming October 1, 2010 from 1-4 pm.
for details regarding the right to information, please see the video below.
for my students who are going to attend please tell me so that i could coordinate with my UP classmates. I also need the list of the names of the PLM students for some incentives.
Some of the speakers are Congresswoman Hontiveros, Atty. Barry Guttierez, and others.
if you have have questions, please text or email me. also please pass to others who might be interested.
see you there.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
freedom of information
International Right to Know Day was established by access to information advocates from around the globe. It was first celebrated on 28 September 2003, and 2010 will see the 8th International Right to Know Day.
The aim of Right to Know Day is to raise awareness of every individual's right of access to government-held information: the right to know how elected officials are exercising power and how the tax-payers' money is being spent.
On the right you can click read about activities to celebrate Right to Know Day year by year. Below you will find some ideas about how to celebrate International Right to Know Day in your country.
If you are organising an activity in your country to celebrate Right to Know Day (or Right to Know Week) fill in the form below so we can add your activity to our world Right to Know Day map... coming soon
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
CLA Quiz BEE
history sections under me, please send your representatives for the quiz bee on friday september 17, 2010 at the bulwagang manileno.
female circumcision
this video deals with female circumcision. please watch it.
are we supposed not to condemn this practice simply because in some cultures this practice is accepted?
another video ( a report by al jazeera on female genital mutilation)
are we supposed not to condemn this practice simply because in some cultures this practice is accepted?
another video ( a report by al jazeera on female genital mutilation)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Filipino American History
( some interesting things about the fil-american history)
Filipino American History
According to the U.S. census, there are approximately 9 million people living in America who are of Asian descent. Twenty-three percent of that are of Chinese ancestry; 20% are Filipino; 12% are Asian Indian; and Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese each share about 10%.
It is expected, that by the year 2000 Filipinos will be the largest Asian Pacific Islander group. In the state of California, there are more Filipinos than there are of Chinese.
In San Diego County, Filipino Americans are the largest Asian Pacific Islander group. Yet as Filipino Americans, we are invisible to mainstream society. How often do you see Filipinos in books, in magazines, on television, or on the radio?
We are hidden in the shadows of our Pacific Islander brothers and sisters. It seems that the only thing people know about us is that our youths have the highest suicide rate in the county.
Is that the only thing known about Filipino Americans? Is this what we want our fellow Americans, our fellow Asian Americans, and our fellow shipmates to know? No, of course not. If possible, we would like to be able to tell our friends and neighbors that there is more to being Filipino than just lumpia and pancit. We want to be able to tell our friends and family that we have a unique Asian Pacific Islander heritage. A heritage that reflects our Filipinoness. A heritage that goes deep into the hearts of all Pinoys, whether we speak English or Tagalog, whether we were born in America or the Philippines, or whether we eat "kare-kare" and "pinakbet", or hamburgers and French fries.
We want to be able to tell our friends and fellow shipmates that, "Our history is no mystery." Indeed, as Filipino Americans, we need to tell our story and when our story began. Unknown to many people, Filipino American history began on October 18, 1587. Filipinos were the first Asians to cross the Pacific Ocean as early as 1587, fifty years before the first English settlement of Jamestown was established. From 1565 to 1815, during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, Filipinos were forced to work as sailors and navigators on board Spanish Galleons.
They arrived in as Morro Bay, California. A landing party consisting of Filipino seamen, namely "Luzon Indios ("Luzon Indians"), were sent to the California shore to claim the land for the Spanish king.
In 1763, Filipinos made their first permanent settlement in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana. As sailors and navigators on board Spanish galleons, Filipinos -- also known as "Manilamen" or Spanish-speaking Filipinos -- jumped ship to escape the brutality of their Spanish masters. They built houses on stilts along the gulf ports of New Orleans and were the first in the United States to introduce the sun-drying process of shrimp.
In 1781, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez Poblador, a Filipino, along with 44 other individuals was sent by the Spanish government from Mexico to establish what is now known as the city of Los Angeles.
During the War of 1812, Filipinos from Manila Village (near New Orleans) were among the "Batarians" who fought against the British with Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans.
This was just the beginning of the first wave of Filipino immigration into the United States. The second wave began from 1906 to 1934 with a heavy concentration going into California and Hawaii.
Between these waves of immigration, it is through the "colonization of our native land", the Philippines, that brought us here. For over 300 years, Spain had colonized the Philippines using Manila Bay as their great seaport, trading silver and rich spices with other countries surrounding Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. In exchange for gold, the Spaniards gave Filipinos Christianity. We were called Filipinos after King Philip II of Spain. This is why we have Spanish surnames like Bautista, Calderon, Marquez, and Santos.
Our Spanish connection came to an end after the Spanish-American War in 1898 when America wanted to control the Philippines. Unknown to Filipinos, through the Treaty of Paris (April 11, 1899), Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for $20 million, thus ending over 300 years of Spanish colonization.
Filipinos celebrated their independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and declared Emilio Aguinaldo as president. However, the people of the Philippines were not truly free. In fact, they never were. America was its new ruler and had cheated the Filipinos in believing that they were free. Thus, the Filipino American War began shortly after U.S. colonization. Known in U.S. history books as the "Philippine Insurrection", it was a bloody precurser to Vietnam. The Filipino American War was America's first true overseas war. The War lasted from 1898 to 1902, and in those 3 years as many as 70,000 Americans died and close to 2 million Filipinos were killed. American soldiers were ordered to shoot and kill every one over age 10. Filipinos over ten were considered "Criminals because they were born ten years before [America] we took the Philippines."
There was even a special gun designed to kill Filipinos, the Colt.45 1902 "Philippine Model", where only 4,600 were made. This is the real American history that historians, academicians, and scholars forgot to tell us. Soon after the War, William Howard Taft, who later became President of the United States, became governor of the Philippines. American school teachers, called 'Thomasites', came to the Philippines to establish a public school system similar to American public schools.
American educators taught Filipinos that "Aguinaldo and friends" were the enemy. They were taught American songs, and world history through American eyes. This is why so many of us speak such good English. The elite class of rich Filipinos also known as "pensionados" were allowed to come to America to learn in American universities. In November 1903, 103 pensionados became the first Filipino students in American Universities and campuses.
It was here in San Diego at State Normal School, now known as San Diego State University (SDSU), where the School Registrar's records show that there were a few Filipino students, ages 16- 25, who had attended SDSU, proof that we have been here in San Diego since 1903.
In the early 1900's, other Filipinos came to Hawaii to work on sugar cane plantations and to seek a better life in America. Filipinos came to the West Coast of the U.S. They worked many long hours on farms and in the agricultural fields picking grapes, asparagus, lettuce and other fruits and vegetables in places like Hayward, Salinas, Stockton, El Centro, and even in Escondido. In Alaska they worked in the fish canneries.
If they were not working in the fields, then they were working as dishwashers, waiters, and bus boys at the Hotel Del Coronado, some at the "Casa de Manana" in La Jolla, or at the Rome Hotel on Market Street.
These Filipino pioneers were known as the "manong generation" since most of them came from Ilokos Sur, Iloilo, and Cavite in the Philippines. "Many of them [Filipinos] did not plan to reside permanently in the United States. All they wanted was to accumulate as much wealth as possible within a short time and return to the islands as rich men. "But due to the low-paying jobs the migrants obtained, a trip home became more and more remote as the years went by" (excerpt from Adelaida Castillo-Tsuchida's "Filipino Migrants in San Diego: 1900-1946" p.56). Back in the 1920's and '30's, the ratio of men to women was 20 to 1. In some places it was 40 to 1. Because they were Filipino, they were not allowed to marry white women. In the state of California, the local authorities imposed anti-miscegenation laws on Filipinos. Filipinos had to drive out of state in order to marry white women.
And during this time, particularly during the Great Depression, white Americans claimed that Filipinos "brought down the standard of living because they worked for low wages."
Filipinos had to compete against other ethnic groups to earn a living. Tensions grew between white Americans and Filipinos. White Americans blamed Filipinos for taking their women and their jobs. For this reason, many hotels, restaurants, and even swimming pools had signs that read "POSITIVELY NO FILIPINOS ALLOWED!" Sometimes they read, "NO DOGS ALLOWED!"
This eventually lead to the passing of the Tydings-Mcduffie Act of 1934, which limited Filipino immigration to the U.S. to 50 per year. Its main purpose was to exclude Filipinos because they were perceived as a social problem, disease carriers, and an economical threat. American attitude toward Filipinos changed with the onset of World War II. This began the 3rd wave of Filipino immigration (1945-1965). Filipinos from the Philippines joined the U.S. Navy to fight against the Japanese. Filipinos were allowed to join the navy because they were so-called "Nationals". They were not U.S. citizens, nor were they illegal aliens. In the navy, many Filipinos were given the label of "Designated TN", which many of you know stood for "Stewardsman".
As stewards, Filipinos in the U.S. Navy cooked, cleaned, shined, washed, and swabbed the decks of naval ships and naval bases across America and the entire world. Despite their status, Filipinos fought side-by-side with American soldiers for freedom against the Japanese.
The 4th wave of Filipino Immigration began after the passing of the Immigration Act of 1965 and continues to the present day. This allowed the entry of as many as 20,000 immigrants annually.
This wave of Filipinos was also called the "brain drain". It consisted mainly of professionals: doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, as well as the military, Filipinos who continued to join the navy off Sangeley Point in Cavite City, Philippines. From the first to the fourth wave of Filipino Immigration, evidently Filipinos have been in America for quite some time, yet one must persistently ask who are the Filipino Americans? Who are they and what they have done? Perhaps it would be better to ask: What is it about Filipino-Americans that make them appear different, yet one and the same? The answer may lie with the younger generation, our youth, young 2nd or 3rd-generation Filipino Americans, for some of you, your sons and daughters. Many of them do not see themselves in the American mainstream or in the community, and because of this "invisibility" they lack a certain voice that would remind them that they too are Filipino. Perhaps, this might be one of the reasons why they act more American than Filipino. What many of them do not know is that there are people like the following to look up to.
AGAPITO FLORES, who in the early 1940's invented the FLOURESCENT LIGHT, thus the name FLUOR-RES-CENT;
EDWARDO SAN JUAN, a Filipino, who in 1969 worked for Lockheed Corporation and was the conceptional designer of the Lunar Rover or the Moon Buggy;
In 1948, Olympic gold medalist, VICKY MANOLO DRAVES, was the first woman to win high and low diving events;
BOBBY BALCENA, in 1957, was the outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds;
ROMAN GABRIEL, quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams (1962-1973). He was the 1969 NFL MVP and Player of the Year;
LIZ MASAKAYAN, pro beach Volleyball champion player who lives in San Diego;
ERNIE REYES JR., martial arts expert, movie actor and director;
BEN CAYETANO, governor of Hawaii since 1994, the highest ranking Filipino American in U.S. government;
TESS SANTIAGO, Mayor of the city of Delano, California's first Filipina Mayor since November 1994;
ANDY BUMATAI, standup comedian from Hawaii;
AOIDA NICOLAS LEWIS, CEO of the largest African-American owned corporation, TLC Beatrice;
The late, LARRY DULAY ITLIONG, labor organizer (1965 grapes strike leader), 1st vice-president of the United Farm Workers union;
The late, PHILIP VERACRUZ, cofounder of the United Farm Workers union;
DANNY MODELO, the first Filipino American animal trainer at Sea World in the United States, a Filipino who grew up in South San Diego;
Judge LILIAN LIM, 1st Filipina judge in the U.S., appointed in 1988 and also from San Diego;
VELMA VELORIA, 1st Filipina American and Asian American woman elected to the Washington state legislature;
ROBIN TULAO MANGARIN, the 1st Filipina American television news anchorperson in San Diego history;
JOEL DELA FUENTE, TV actor who plays the character of Paul Wang on "Space Above and Beyond";
NIA PEEPLES, from the "North Shore", & star of the former TV show, "Party Machine"; also in the TC series "Fame";
TAMILYN TOMITA, from the "Karate Kid II" and the "Joy Luck Club";
TIA CARRERE, from "Wayne's World I & II", "Rising Sun", & "True Lies";
ROB SCHNEIDER, who you all know from Saturday Night Live, the movie "Judge Dredd", "Demolition Man", and "Down Periscope";
EMILIO ESTEVEZ, from the movie "Young Guns I & II", "Men at Work", & "The Mighty Ducks I & II";
CHARLIE SHEEN, from "Major League I & II", "Hot Shots", and "Navy Seals";
LOU DIAMOND PHIILLIPS, from "La Bamba", "Courage Under Fire", "Young Guns";
DEE DEE MAGNO, performed in "Miss Saigon" and "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Sister Act 2". In the group, The Party;
JENNIFER KWAN, performed in "Miss Saigon" and the TV Show, "California Dreams";
JOCELYN ENRIQUEZ, pop artist. Albums: "Jocelyn" and "Jocelyn Enriquez" Songs: "Do You Miss Me?" and "A Little Bit of Ecstasy";
BUFFY, pop artist. Song: "Give Me a Reason" and "First Love";
JOSIE NATORI, Founder and president of Natori Inc., the label in known for its classy lingerie;
PIA MANALO, appears in "Barney and Friends";
JESSICA HAGEDORN, author of "Dogeaters" and Editor of the anthology, "Charlie Chan Is Dead";
Then you got that one guy formerly known as PRINCE. Where do you think he gets his rhythm?
You may say that some of the people that I have mentioned are part Black, White, or Asian, but deep down they are also part Pinoy, therefore, Filipino American. Each and every one of them reflects a certain Asianness, but more so a Filipinoness. They, like any other Filipino American, will continue to live their lives in these United States of America, proud of their heritage and proud to tell their own story.
Filipino American History
According to the U.S. census, there are approximately 9 million people living in America who are of Asian descent. Twenty-three percent of that are of Chinese ancestry; 20% are Filipino; 12% are Asian Indian; and Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese each share about 10%.
It is expected, that by the year 2000 Filipinos will be the largest Asian Pacific Islander group. In the state of California, there are more Filipinos than there are of Chinese.
In San Diego County, Filipino Americans are the largest Asian Pacific Islander group. Yet as Filipino Americans, we are invisible to mainstream society. How often do you see Filipinos in books, in magazines, on television, or on the radio?
We are hidden in the shadows of our Pacific Islander brothers and sisters. It seems that the only thing people know about us is that our youths have the highest suicide rate in the county.
Is that the only thing known about Filipino Americans? Is this what we want our fellow Americans, our fellow Asian Americans, and our fellow shipmates to know? No, of course not. If possible, we would like to be able to tell our friends and neighbors that there is more to being Filipino than just lumpia and pancit. We want to be able to tell our friends and family that we have a unique Asian Pacific Islander heritage. A heritage that reflects our Filipinoness. A heritage that goes deep into the hearts of all Pinoys, whether we speak English or Tagalog, whether we were born in America or the Philippines, or whether we eat "kare-kare" and "pinakbet", or hamburgers and French fries.
We want to be able to tell our friends and fellow shipmates that, "Our history is no mystery." Indeed, as Filipino Americans, we need to tell our story and when our story began. Unknown to many people, Filipino American history began on October 18, 1587. Filipinos were the first Asians to cross the Pacific Ocean as early as 1587, fifty years before the first English settlement of Jamestown was established. From 1565 to 1815, during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, Filipinos were forced to work as sailors and navigators on board Spanish Galleons.
They arrived in as Morro Bay, California. A landing party consisting of Filipino seamen, namely "Luzon Indios ("Luzon Indians"), were sent to the California shore to claim the land for the Spanish king.
In 1763, Filipinos made their first permanent settlement in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana. As sailors and navigators on board Spanish galleons, Filipinos -- also known as "Manilamen" or Spanish-speaking Filipinos -- jumped ship to escape the brutality of their Spanish masters. They built houses on stilts along the gulf ports of New Orleans and were the first in the United States to introduce the sun-drying process of shrimp.
In 1781, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez Poblador, a Filipino, along with 44 other individuals was sent by the Spanish government from Mexico to establish what is now known as the city of Los Angeles.
During the War of 1812, Filipinos from Manila Village (near New Orleans) were among the "Batarians" who fought against the British with Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans.
This was just the beginning of the first wave of Filipino immigration into the United States. The second wave began from 1906 to 1934 with a heavy concentration going into California and Hawaii.
Between these waves of immigration, it is through the "colonization of our native land", the Philippines, that brought us here. For over 300 years, Spain had colonized the Philippines using Manila Bay as their great seaport, trading silver and rich spices with other countries surrounding Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. In exchange for gold, the Spaniards gave Filipinos Christianity. We were called Filipinos after King Philip II of Spain. This is why we have Spanish surnames like Bautista, Calderon, Marquez, and Santos.
Our Spanish connection came to an end after the Spanish-American War in 1898 when America wanted to control the Philippines. Unknown to Filipinos, through the Treaty of Paris (April 11, 1899), Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for $20 million, thus ending over 300 years of Spanish colonization.
Filipinos celebrated their independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and declared Emilio Aguinaldo as president. However, the people of the Philippines were not truly free. In fact, they never were. America was its new ruler and had cheated the Filipinos in believing that they were free. Thus, the Filipino American War began shortly after U.S. colonization. Known in U.S. history books as the "Philippine Insurrection", it was a bloody precurser to Vietnam. The Filipino American War was America's first true overseas war. The War lasted from 1898 to 1902, and in those 3 years as many as 70,000 Americans died and close to 2 million Filipinos were killed. American soldiers were ordered to shoot and kill every one over age 10. Filipinos over ten were considered "Criminals because they were born ten years before [America] we took the Philippines."
There was even a special gun designed to kill Filipinos, the Colt.45 1902 "Philippine Model", where only 4,600 were made. This is the real American history that historians, academicians, and scholars forgot to tell us. Soon after the War, William Howard Taft, who later became President of the United States, became governor of the Philippines. American school teachers, called 'Thomasites', came to the Philippines to establish a public school system similar to American public schools.
American educators taught Filipinos that "Aguinaldo and friends" were the enemy. They were taught American songs, and world history through American eyes. This is why so many of us speak such good English. The elite class of rich Filipinos also known as "pensionados" were allowed to come to America to learn in American universities. In November 1903, 103 pensionados became the first Filipino students in American Universities and campuses.
It was here in San Diego at State Normal School, now known as San Diego State University (SDSU), where the School Registrar's records show that there were a few Filipino students, ages 16- 25, who had attended SDSU, proof that we have been here in San Diego since 1903.
In the early 1900's, other Filipinos came to Hawaii to work on sugar cane plantations and to seek a better life in America. Filipinos came to the West Coast of the U.S. They worked many long hours on farms and in the agricultural fields picking grapes, asparagus, lettuce and other fruits and vegetables in places like Hayward, Salinas, Stockton, El Centro, and even in Escondido. In Alaska they worked in the fish canneries.
If they were not working in the fields, then they were working as dishwashers, waiters, and bus boys at the Hotel Del Coronado, some at the "Casa de Manana" in La Jolla, or at the Rome Hotel on Market Street.
These Filipino pioneers were known as the "manong generation" since most of them came from Ilokos Sur, Iloilo, and Cavite in the Philippines. "Many of them [Filipinos] did not plan to reside permanently in the United States. All they wanted was to accumulate as much wealth as possible within a short time and return to the islands as rich men. "But due to the low-paying jobs the migrants obtained, a trip home became more and more remote as the years went by" (excerpt from Adelaida Castillo-Tsuchida's "Filipino Migrants in San Diego: 1900-1946" p.56). Back in the 1920's and '30's, the ratio of men to women was 20 to 1. In some places it was 40 to 1. Because they were Filipino, they were not allowed to marry white women. In the state of California, the local authorities imposed anti-miscegenation laws on Filipinos. Filipinos had to drive out of state in order to marry white women.
And during this time, particularly during the Great Depression, white Americans claimed that Filipinos "brought down the standard of living because they worked for low wages."
Filipinos had to compete against other ethnic groups to earn a living. Tensions grew between white Americans and Filipinos. White Americans blamed Filipinos for taking their women and their jobs. For this reason, many hotels, restaurants, and even swimming pools had signs that read "POSITIVELY NO FILIPINOS ALLOWED!" Sometimes they read, "NO DOGS ALLOWED!"
This eventually lead to the passing of the Tydings-Mcduffie Act of 1934, which limited Filipino immigration to the U.S. to 50 per year. Its main purpose was to exclude Filipinos because they were perceived as a social problem, disease carriers, and an economical threat. American attitude toward Filipinos changed with the onset of World War II. This began the 3rd wave of Filipino immigration (1945-1965). Filipinos from the Philippines joined the U.S. Navy to fight against the Japanese. Filipinos were allowed to join the navy because they were so-called "Nationals". They were not U.S. citizens, nor were they illegal aliens. In the navy, many Filipinos were given the label of "Designated TN", which many of you know stood for "Stewardsman".
As stewards, Filipinos in the U.S. Navy cooked, cleaned, shined, washed, and swabbed the decks of naval ships and naval bases across America and the entire world. Despite their status, Filipinos fought side-by-side with American soldiers for freedom against the Japanese.
The 4th wave of Filipino Immigration began after the passing of the Immigration Act of 1965 and continues to the present day. This allowed the entry of as many as 20,000 immigrants annually.
This wave of Filipinos was also called the "brain drain". It consisted mainly of professionals: doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, as well as the military, Filipinos who continued to join the navy off Sangeley Point in Cavite City, Philippines. From the first to the fourth wave of Filipino Immigration, evidently Filipinos have been in America for quite some time, yet one must persistently ask who are the Filipino Americans? Who are they and what they have done? Perhaps it would be better to ask: What is it about Filipino-Americans that make them appear different, yet one and the same? The answer may lie with the younger generation, our youth, young 2nd or 3rd-generation Filipino Americans, for some of you, your sons and daughters. Many of them do not see themselves in the American mainstream or in the community, and because of this "invisibility" they lack a certain voice that would remind them that they too are Filipino. Perhaps, this might be one of the reasons why they act more American than Filipino. What many of them do not know is that there are people like the following to look up to.
AGAPITO FLORES, who in the early 1940's invented the FLOURESCENT LIGHT, thus the name FLUOR-RES-CENT;
EDWARDO SAN JUAN, a Filipino, who in 1969 worked for Lockheed Corporation and was the conceptional designer of the Lunar Rover or the Moon Buggy;
In 1948, Olympic gold medalist, VICKY MANOLO DRAVES, was the first woman to win high and low diving events;
BOBBY BALCENA, in 1957, was the outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds;
ROMAN GABRIEL, quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams (1962-1973). He was the 1969 NFL MVP and Player of the Year;
LIZ MASAKAYAN, pro beach Volleyball champion player who lives in San Diego;
ERNIE REYES JR., martial arts expert, movie actor and director;
BEN CAYETANO, governor of Hawaii since 1994, the highest ranking Filipino American in U.S. government;
TESS SANTIAGO, Mayor of the city of Delano, California's first Filipina Mayor since November 1994;
ANDY BUMATAI, standup comedian from Hawaii;
AOIDA NICOLAS LEWIS, CEO of the largest African-American owned corporation, TLC Beatrice;
The late, LARRY DULAY ITLIONG, labor organizer (1965 grapes strike leader), 1st vice-president of the United Farm Workers union;
The late, PHILIP VERACRUZ, cofounder of the United Farm Workers union;
DANNY MODELO, the first Filipino American animal trainer at Sea World in the United States, a Filipino who grew up in South San Diego;
Judge LILIAN LIM, 1st Filipina judge in the U.S., appointed in 1988 and also from San Diego;
VELMA VELORIA, 1st Filipina American and Asian American woman elected to the Washington state legislature;
ROBIN TULAO MANGARIN, the 1st Filipina American television news anchorperson in San Diego history;
JOEL DELA FUENTE, TV actor who plays the character of Paul Wang on "Space Above and Beyond";
NIA PEEPLES, from the "North Shore", & star of the former TV show, "Party Machine"; also in the TC series "Fame";
TAMILYN TOMITA, from the "Karate Kid II" and the "Joy Luck Club";
TIA CARRERE, from "Wayne's World I & II", "Rising Sun", & "True Lies";
ROB SCHNEIDER, who you all know from Saturday Night Live, the movie "Judge Dredd", "Demolition Man", and "Down Periscope";
EMILIO ESTEVEZ, from the movie "Young Guns I & II", "Men at Work", & "The Mighty Ducks I & II";
CHARLIE SHEEN, from "Major League I & II", "Hot Shots", and "Navy Seals";
LOU DIAMOND PHIILLIPS, from "La Bamba", "Courage Under Fire", "Young Guns";
DEE DEE MAGNO, performed in "Miss Saigon" and "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Sister Act 2". In the group, The Party;
JENNIFER KWAN, performed in "Miss Saigon" and the TV Show, "California Dreams";
JOCELYN ENRIQUEZ, pop artist. Albums: "Jocelyn" and "Jocelyn Enriquez" Songs: "Do You Miss Me?" and "A Little Bit of Ecstasy";
BUFFY, pop artist. Song: "Give Me a Reason" and "First Love";
JOSIE NATORI, Founder and president of Natori Inc., the label in known for its classy lingerie;
PIA MANALO, appears in "Barney and Friends";
JESSICA HAGEDORN, author of "Dogeaters" and Editor of the anthology, "Charlie Chan Is Dead";
Then you got that one guy formerly known as PRINCE. Where do you think he gets his rhythm?
You may say that some of the people that I have mentioned are part Black, White, or Asian, but deep down they are also part Pinoy, therefore, Filipino American. Each and every one of them reflects a certain Asianness, but more so a Filipinoness. They, like any other Filipino American, will continue to live their lives in these United States of America, proud of their heritage and proud to tell their own story.
The Bells of Balangiga
( this is one of the atrocities committed by the americans when they invaded the philippines. i ask you my students to read the post below to learn more)
Philippines 1901
The Bells of Balangiga
Revolutionary Worker #939, January 11, 1998
A hundred years ago, out of the dark,
An insignificant town made its mark.
From the program for
"The Bells of Balangiga"
The Pintig Cultural Group in Chicago recently presented a new play, The Bells of Balangiga. This musical tells the story of a small town in the Philippines, Balangiga, where the people heroically resisted U.S. imperialism in 1901--successfully organizing and carrying out a plan to kill the U.S. soldiers who had invaded and occupied their town.
Rodolfo Carlos Vera, who wrote this Chicago version of the play, first put this story on the stage two years ago with a regional theater group in the Philippines. That production toured throughout Samar, the very island where the story takes place. Now, The Pintig Cultural Group has plans to take The Bells of Balangiga on the road in the United States.
Angela Mascareñas, a founding member of Pintig who is the producer of the play, says in her program notes: "The Bells of Balangiga is not just a musical production. It is a discourse on colonialism and the history of the Philippine-United States relations. It is an attempt to popularize those historical facts that have not made it in the mainstream history books nor in documentaries about the role of U.S. aggression in different parts of the world at the turn of the century. More importantly, it is a conscious effort to amplify those historically marginalized voices of the colonized Filipinos and of those who continue to suffer neo-colonial oppression under U.S. imperialist stranglehold in the Philippines... We dedicate this production to all Filipinos who have died for justice and freedom as well as to all those who continue to fight for the same in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, for those who have forgotten and for those who have yet to learn, we hope to bring back to life the songs, the stories, and the lessons of Balangiga."
The 1898 story of Balangiga is another chapter in the people's history which illustrates the truth that, as Mao Tsetung said, "Where there is oppression, there is resistance!"
*****
In 1896, after 300 years of Spanish colonialism, the Philippine Revolution broke out against Spain. The Filipino people continued their proud history of fighting against foreign oppressors and when the Spanish-American War began in 1898, armed guerrilla struggle against Spanish colonial rule intensified. Spanish power collapsed throughout most of the archipelago. But meanwhile, the U.S. imperialists were maneuvering to become new colonial masters in the Philippines. Secret diplomatic negotiations were conducted between the U.S. and Spain, and on August 13, 1898 a mock battle was staged in order to justify Spain turning the Philippines over to the United States. After a few token shots were fired Spain surrendered, and on December 18, 1898 the U.S. "bought" the Philippines from Spain for 20 million dollars.
Less than two months later, U.S. troops made a surprise attack on Filipino revolutionary forces near the capital of Manila and at least 3,000 Filipinos were killed. The Filipino-American War began with the masses of Filipino people determined to resist U.S. imperialism. The U.S. won this war in 1902, after sending over 126,000 U.S. troops to the Philippines. Filipinos who refused to pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag were persecuted, sometimes imprisoned. Filipino rebels were tortured and organizations of workers and peasants were suppressed. For every U.S. soldier killed, 50 Filipinos were killed. It has been estimated that more than a quarter of a million Filipinos died as a direct and indirect result of the Filipino-American War. And one U.S. general even put the Filipino death casualty as high as 600,000 or one-sixth of the population in the main island of Luzon.
In the small town of Balangiga, the people were determined to fight against the U.S. occupation of their country. They decided to invite (lure) the U.S. military to their town in the guise of asking for "protection."
Company C of the 9th Infantry Battalion arrived in Balangiga on August 11, 1901. These 74 veteran soldiers, some of whom had carried out other U.S. exploits in China and Cuba, immediately began to oppress the people--using the racist term "goo-goo" to refer to the people, pressganging the men into labor, and raping the women.
Meanwhile, the townspeople, who seemed to be cooperating with the U.S. soldiers, were making secret plans. One account said that, on the recommendation of the town's mayor, other Filipinos were added to the workforce from the nearby hills where the revolutionary guerrillas were active. According to this account, "The Americans found them unusually industrious but they happened to be the guerrilla's best bolomen. (A bolo is a heavy, single-bladed machete.)
After only a few weeks of putting up with the U.S. occupation, the people of Balangiga decided they had had enough and it was time to carry out their plans. One night, the people met in the jungle, away from the eyes and ears of the U.S. soldiers. The women dressed the men up as women and then walked back with them to the town. The next morning, on September 28, 1901, the disguised men carried small coffins through the town--staging a mournful procession for dead babies killed by cholera. In fact, the coffins did have some dead babies in them, but they were also filled with bolos!
The American soldiers, totally off guard, were eating their breakfast. Some of them didn't even have their guns with them. The commander of Company C, Captain Thomas Connell, was at his desk working on a memorial service for U.S. President William McKinley, who had been assassinated three weeks earlier.
Then, according to one account, Balangiga's chief of police, Pedro Sanchez, walked behind a U.S. sentry and with casual swiftness, grabbed the sentry's rifle and brought the butt down in a smashing blow on his head. Then the church bells unexpectedly started to toll. This was the signal for the disguised men to launch their attack. Those in the mess tents were among the first U.S. soldiers hit. They tried to fight back with chairs and kitchen utensils but several of them swiftly lost their heads as the rebels swung their bolos with determination. Some townspeople outside cut the ropes to the tents, causing the tents to collapse on the struggling soldiers.
Of the 74 U.S. soldiers in the unit, 47 were killed and 22 were wounded. The survivors managed to escape to an American garrison.
Retaliation from the U.S. was swift, vicious and extreme. U.S. soldiers went back to Balangiga, burned the town and then went on a rampage, burning down the whole island of Samar. This genocidal retribution was led by Brig. Gen. Jacob W. Smith, who had earned the nickname "Hell Roaring Jake." A decade earlier, as a cavalryman, Smith had fought at Wounded Knee, where hundreds of Indians were massacred. Now he told his men, "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn. The more you kill and burn, the better it will please me." He directed that Samar be converted into a "howling wilderness" and U.S. soldiers were instructed to shoot anyone over 10 years old. One U.S. Major reported that in an 11-day span his men burned 255 dwellings, slaughtered 13 carabaos (Filipino oxen), and killed 39 people. Other officers reported similar activity. The island's population dropped from around 300,000 to around less than 257,000.
U.S. soldiers stole the three church bells in Balangiga that had signaled the death of Company C. And to this day, two of these bells are in a monument in Cheyenne, Wyoming--at a military post first occupied by U.S. soldiers who fought and killed the Indians. The other bell is in South Korea, where the current Company C unit is stationed.
Now, in the Philippines, there is a campaign to demand that the Bells of Balangiga be returned to the Philippines, where they rightfully belong--as a reminder to the people of the atrocities carried out by U.S. imperialism and the heroism of those who dared to resist.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
http://rwor.org
Write: Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: 773-227-4497
(The RW Online does not currently communicate via email.)
Philippines 1901
The Bells of Balangiga
Revolutionary Worker #939, January 11, 1998
A hundred years ago, out of the dark,
An insignificant town made its mark.
From the program for
"The Bells of Balangiga"
The Pintig Cultural Group in Chicago recently presented a new play, The Bells of Balangiga. This musical tells the story of a small town in the Philippines, Balangiga, where the people heroically resisted U.S. imperialism in 1901--successfully organizing and carrying out a plan to kill the U.S. soldiers who had invaded and occupied their town.
Rodolfo Carlos Vera, who wrote this Chicago version of the play, first put this story on the stage two years ago with a regional theater group in the Philippines. That production toured throughout Samar, the very island where the story takes place. Now, The Pintig Cultural Group has plans to take The Bells of Balangiga on the road in the United States.
Angela Mascareñas, a founding member of Pintig who is the producer of the play, says in her program notes: "The Bells of Balangiga is not just a musical production. It is a discourse on colonialism and the history of the Philippine-United States relations. It is an attempt to popularize those historical facts that have not made it in the mainstream history books nor in documentaries about the role of U.S. aggression in different parts of the world at the turn of the century. More importantly, it is a conscious effort to amplify those historically marginalized voices of the colonized Filipinos and of those who continue to suffer neo-colonial oppression under U.S. imperialist stranglehold in the Philippines... We dedicate this production to all Filipinos who have died for justice and freedom as well as to all those who continue to fight for the same in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, for those who have forgotten and for those who have yet to learn, we hope to bring back to life the songs, the stories, and the lessons of Balangiga."
The 1898 story of Balangiga is another chapter in the people's history which illustrates the truth that, as Mao Tsetung said, "Where there is oppression, there is resistance!"
*****
In 1896, after 300 years of Spanish colonialism, the Philippine Revolution broke out against Spain. The Filipino people continued their proud history of fighting against foreign oppressors and when the Spanish-American War began in 1898, armed guerrilla struggle against Spanish colonial rule intensified. Spanish power collapsed throughout most of the archipelago. But meanwhile, the U.S. imperialists were maneuvering to become new colonial masters in the Philippines. Secret diplomatic negotiations were conducted between the U.S. and Spain, and on August 13, 1898 a mock battle was staged in order to justify Spain turning the Philippines over to the United States. After a few token shots were fired Spain surrendered, and on December 18, 1898 the U.S. "bought" the Philippines from Spain for 20 million dollars.
Less than two months later, U.S. troops made a surprise attack on Filipino revolutionary forces near the capital of Manila and at least 3,000 Filipinos were killed. The Filipino-American War began with the masses of Filipino people determined to resist U.S. imperialism. The U.S. won this war in 1902, after sending over 126,000 U.S. troops to the Philippines. Filipinos who refused to pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag were persecuted, sometimes imprisoned. Filipino rebels were tortured and organizations of workers and peasants were suppressed. For every U.S. soldier killed, 50 Filipinos were killed. It has been estimated that more than a quarter of a million Filipinos died as a direct and indirect result of the Filipino-American War. And one U.S. general even put the Filipino death casualty as high as 600,000 or one-sixth of the population in the main island of Luzon.
In the small town of Balangiga, the people were determined to fight against the U.S. occupation of their country. They decided to invite (lure) the U.S. military to their town in the guise of asking for "protection."
Company C of the 9th Infantry Battalion arrived in Balangiga on August 11, 1901. These 74 veteran soldiers, some of whom had carried out other U.S. exploits in China and Cuba, immediately began to oppress the people--using the racist term "goo-goo" to refer to the people, pressganging the men into labor, and raping the women.
Meanwhile, the townspeople, who seemed to be cooperating with the U.S. soldiers, were making secret plans. One account said that, on the recommendation of the town's mayor, other Filipinos were added to the workforce from the nearby hills where the revolutionary guerrillas were active. According to this account, "The Americans found them unusually industrious but they happened to be the guerrilla's best bolomen. (A bolo is a heavy, single-bladed machete.)
After only a few weeks of putting up with the U.S. occupation, the people of Balangiga decided they had had enough and it was time to carry out their plans. One night, the people met in the jungle, away from the eyes and ears of the U.S. soldiers. The women dressed the men up as women and then walked back with them to the town. The next morning, on September 28, 1901, the disguised men carried small coffins through the town--staging a mournful procession for dead babies killed by cholera. In fact, the coffins did have some dead babies in them, but they were also filled with bolos!
The American soldiers, totally off guard, were eating their breakfast. Some of them didn't even have their guns with them. The commander of Company C, Captain Thomas Connell, was at his desk working on a memorial service for U.S. President William McKinley, who had been assassinated three weeks earlier.
Then, according to one account, Balangiga's chief of police, Pedro Sanchez, walked behind a U.S. sentry and with casual swiftness, grabbed the sentry's rifle and brought the butt down in a smashing blow on his head. Then the church bells unexpectedly started to toll. This was the signal for the disguised men to launch their attack. Those in the mess tents were among the first U.S. soldiers hit. They tried to fight back with chairs and kitchen utensils but several of them swiftly lost their heads as the rebels swung their bolos with determination. Some townspeople outside cut the ropes to the tents, causing the tents to collapse on the struggling soldiers.
Of the 74 U.S. soldiers in the unit, 47 were killed and 22 were wounded. The survivors managed to escape to an American garrison.
Retaliation from the U.S. was swift, vicious and extreme. U.S. soldiers went back to Balangiga, burned the town and then went on a rampage, burning down the whole island of Samar. This genocidal retribution was led by Brig. Gen. Jacob W. Smith, who had earned the nickname "Hell Roaring Jake." A decade earlier, as a cavalryman, Smith had fought at Wounded Knee, where hundreds of Indians were massacred. Now he told his men, "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn. The more you kill and burn, the better it will please me." He directed that Samar be converted into a "howling wilderness" and U.S. soldiers were instructed to shoot anyone over 10 years old. One U.S. Major reported that in an 11-day span his men burned 255 dwellings, slaughtered 13 carabaos (Filipino oxen), and killed 39 people. Other officers reported similar activity. The island's population dropped from around 300,000 to around less than 257,000.
U.S. soldiers stole the three church bells in Balangiga that had signaled the death of Company C. And to this day, two of these bells are in a monument in Cheyenne, Wyoming--at a military post first occupied by U.S. soldiers who fought and killed the Indians. The other bell is in South Korea, where the current Company C unit is stationed.
Now, in the Philippines, there is a campaign to demand that the Bells of Balangiga be returned to the Philippines, where they rightfully belong--as a reminder to the people of the atrocities carried out by U.S. imperialism and the heroism of those who dared to resist.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
http://rwor.org
Write: Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: 773-227-4497
(The RW Online does not currently communicate via email.)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
CALL FOR VOLUNTEER FACILITATORS FOR THE 8TH NATIONAL YOUTH PARLIAMENT
CALL FOR VOLUNTEER FACILITATORS FOR THE
8TH NATIONAL YOUTH PARLIAMENT
Butuan City
November 5-8, 2010
Background:
The National Youth Commission (NYC) is looking for Nine volunteers who will facilitate discussion in the committee sessions and assist in the plenary sessions of the 8th National Youth Parliament (NYP) on November 5-8, 2010 in Butuan City.
The NYP will gather youth leaders in the country to discuss the prevailing issues affecting them and to serve as a venue for the youth to craft policy recommendations in the pursuit of advancing youth concerns.
Qualifications of Facilitators:
The Facilitators shall be:
* Between 25 to 35 years old
* Mentally and Physically fit to travel
* Holds basic knowledge and experience in the following fields:
* Parliamentary Rules, Privileges and Legal Matters
* Sustainable Development/Environment
* Education
* Health
* Special Needs
* Employment/Entrepreneurship
* Participation
* Values
* Other Relevant and Emerging Youth Issues
* Able to facilitate from November 5-8, 2010
* Able to attend the Committee Facilitators’ Training from November 3-4, 2010
* With functional knowledge on parliamentary procedure
* Delegates or previous NYP (1st batch to 7th batch), NYC Youth Volunteers, Beneficiaries of other NYC Programs or Members of NYC Youth Organizations Registration Program and interested applicants
Application Requirements:
1. Application Letter (1 copy)
2. Accomplished Application Form (1 copy)
3. Resume with passport size photo attached (1 copy)
4. Photocopy of one valid ID (1 copy)
Expenses:
The National Youth Commission will shoulder the transportation expenses (round trip to Butuan and back – from airport, port and bus station), meals and accommodation of the chosen applicants
Schedule of Activities:
November 2, 2010 Arrival in Butuan City
November 3-4, 2010 Committee Facilitators’ Training
November 5-8, 2010 NYP Program Proper and Post-Program Evaluation
November 9, 2010 Departure from Butuan City
Applicants should submit all the application requirements including the application form thru e-mail to obin_espinoza@yahoo.com, by courier or personal delivery addressed to Dr. Robinson Espinoza, Policy, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PRMED), National Youth Commission, 4th Floor, Bookman Building, 373 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City not later than September 30, 2010.
Contact Details:
Telefax Number: +632.7812373
E-mail: obin_espinoza@yahoo.com
8TH NATIONAL YOUTH PARLIAMENT
Butuan City
November 5-8, 2010
Background:
The National Youth Commission (NYC) is looking for Nine volunteers who will facilitate discussion in the committee sessions and assist in the plenary sessions of the 8th National Youth Parliament (NYP) on November 5-8, 2010 in Butuan City.
The NYP will gather youth leaders in the country to discuss the prevailing issues affecting them and to serve as a venue for the youth to craft policy recommendations in the pursuit of advancing youth concerns.
Qualifications of Facilitators:
The Facilitators shall be:
* Between 25 to 35 years old
* Mentally and Physically fit to travel
* Holds basic knowledge and experience in the following fields:
* Parliamentary Rules, Privileges and Legal Matters
* Sustainable Development/Environment
* Education
* Health
* Special Needs
* Employment/Entrepreneurship
* Participation
* Values
* Other Relevant and Emerging Youth Issues
* Able to facilitate from November 5-8, 2010
* Able to attend the Committee Facilitators’ Training from November 3-4, 2010
* With functional knowledge on parliamentary procedure
* Delegates or previous NYP (1st batch to 7th batch), NYC Youth Volunteers, Beneficiaries of other NYC Programs or Members of NYC Youth Organizations Registration Program and interested applicants
Application Requirements:
1. Application Letter (1 copy)
2. Accomplished Application Form (1 copy)
3. Resume with passport size photo attached (1 copy)
4. Photocopy of one valid ID (1 copy)
Expenses:
The National Youth Commission will shoulder the transportation expenses (round trip to Butuan and back – from airport, port and bus station), meals and accommodation of the chosen applicants
Schedule of Activities:
November 2, 2010 Arrival in Butuan City
November 3-4, 2010 Committee Facilitators’ Training
November 5-8, 2010 NYP Program Proper and Post-Program Evaluation
November 9, 2010 Departure from Butuan City
Applicants should submit all the application requirements including the application form thru e-mail to obin_espinoza@yahoo.com, by courier or personal delivery addressed to Dr. Robinson Espinoza, Policy, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PRMED), National Youth Commission, 4th Floor, Bookman Building, 373 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City not later than September 30, 2010.
Contact Details:
Telefax Number: +632.7812373
E-mail: obin_espinoza@yahoo.com
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