I am in the middle of a late night drive from Santa Clara to Long Beach, from Northern to Southern California, a full six hours without stopping. There are two young Fil-Ams traveling with me to meet with fellow advocates and volunteers in a common cause in the Bay Area. The last meeting was with Fil-Am students from Santa Clara University.
My current US visit is now 20 days long where I have traveled to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Houston.
ON THE eve of the US elections, I cede my column space to a friend and labor organizer, Chandler Ramas III, now based in California. I hope you’ll agree that his analysis, which I sympathize but cannot fully agree with, is novel and provocative.
She may have emerged second to this year’s white-guy-with-guitar American Idol, but Jessica Sanchez easily proved to be the idol of millions, of even, as her fans said, the world. And while she united her mother’s native land and had virtually every Filipino watching the results show like it were a Manny Pacquiao fight, Sanchez also triggered a subtle phenomenon on the way to becoming a finalist in the premier American network singing contest: the potential power of a unified Filipino-American movement.
May 11, 2012 is an important date for Filipino organizations in the United States. On that day, global Pinoys will conduct rallies and demonstrations in front of Chinese embassies and consulates to denounce Chinese intrusions into the waters off Scarborough Shoal.
While President Aquino is focusing on perking up the Philippine economy, an opportunity with huge economic potentials is being overlooked. This opportunity could be a good topic for discussion with US President Barack Obama come June 2012, when Mr. Aquino goes on a state visit to the United States.
