WHAT’S UP, ATTORNEY? grounDS for viSa DeniaL anD What you can Do
CANDID PERSPECTIVES
hoW i’ve given uP reaL Life for Lent to Be an actor. But JuSt for 45 DayS or So
BOOK REVIEW Luna, arquitecto
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS the BaLik-ScientiSt Program With Dr. choSeL LaWagon
Filipinos in Hawaii have come a long way in their maturation from the days of plantation workers (1906-1946) who saw their employment as temporary before returning to the Philippines, followed by the Baby boom generation who were the first generation to make Hawaii their permanent home, up to Generation X that currently is settling into their new role as leaders of our community.
Each generation have contributed to the building of our community. The sakadas were the brave pioneers, arguably the most adventurous who sought opportunity in the almost complete unknown. Imagine before the advent of the internet and today’s global community where information about any destination can be accessed and with a high degree of certainty, immediately. The sakadas only had word of mouth as their crystal ball, which was enough for these daring, hard-working Filipinos to leave their country to work in Hawaii.
Our Baby boom Filipinos were our pioneering settlers, the generation that set the foundation for our community in Hawaii. This generation saw themselves as not just Filipinos, but Filipino-Americans. Still closely linked to the Philippines and Philippine culture and language, Baby boomers in Hawaii were the assimilators to their new American-Hawaii society.
They kept most important aspects of their ancestral country but were headstrong to succeed in their new homeland. And part of that recipe for success involved adaptability. In fact in 1980s and 1990s, the buzz word among Hawaii’s Filipinos among Baby boomers was “mainstreaming” – which was a movement to penetrate Hawaii’s greater community and step out of our comfort zone. This generation produced many Fil-Am leaders, including the most known of them all, the former Gov. Ben Cayetano.
While the sakada generation could be characterized as the adventurous generation and the Baby boomers as the founding fathers (and mothers) of our community in Hawaii, it’s still too soon to characterize Gen X Hawaii Filipinos (born 1965-1980) from a historical perspective.
Baby boom Filipinos (born 1946-1964) were a massive group and their contributions were immense. The millennials (born 1981-1994) is the next largest generation and are already a formidable, promising group of Filipinos in Hawaii from a voting bloc alone.
What we know and see of Hawaii Filipino Gen X is the continuation and, in some areas, expanding of leadership. Filipino leadership in Hawaii can be seen across the board from politics to corporations to education.
Gen X have fully integrated into American society more than any generations before them. They’re no longer talking about “mainstreaming,” but rather are the mainstream.
Gen X Filipinos are not as identity conscious as Filipino Baby boomers, in part, because in their (Gen X) fully integrated participation in mainstream society, they haven’t experienced some of the discrimination as their immigrant parents. Their parents were bilingual and through the years had to work on shedding their foreign accent due to discrimination.
Gen X Filipinos are the most educated relative to previous generations. With that comes an expanded perspective that includes seeking employment beyond the confines of Hawaii. Gen X Filipinos born in Hawaii is the first generation to be part of the exodus generation – those leaving Hawaii for the U.S. mainland.
In our close to 30 years of chronicling Hawaii’s Filipino community, we’ve presented stories representative of all our generations. Because the Baby boom generation has been the largest group with many of them leading our community through the 1990s and most of the 2000s, our stories tended to revolve around this generation. Today, we see the rise of Gen Xers, now between 41-57, and their settling into new roles as leaders in our community.
For our cover story this issue, associate editor Edwin Quinabo, writes about this social phenomenon -- the passing of the baton in leadership from the Baby boom to Gen X. What can we expect from this generational shift in leadership with Gen X at the helm? To begin with, Gen X are faced with different issues more pressing than in previous generations such as the rising cost of living, sustainability, and climate change issues. Consequently, Gen Xers will have different priorities to focus on. Also, Gen Xers like each generation, have a set of values they prioritize more than others. For Gen X, surveys show high up in their values are independence, work-life balance, and flexibility. Seventy percent prefer to work independently, 66% want flexible work arrangements. Members in our Filipino community, Gen Xers and leaders, give their take on society with Gen X leading the way.
Also in this issue, if you haven’t heard about today’s woke movement, we have two articles addressing it: 1) our second editorial, and 2) HFC columnist Emil Guillermo’s article “How I’ve Given Up Real Life for Lent to Be an Actor but Just for 45 Days or So.” In the latter, Emil writes about Ishmael Reed’s “The Conductor,” playing now off-Broadway through March 26. Reed’s life has been about imagining stories of inclusion well before Woke became a thing.
We have interesting contributions from our columnists. Our international correspondent Seneca Moraleda-Puguan features Dr. Chosel Lawagon, a scientist and current Director at the Center of Green Nanotechnology Innovations for Environmental Solutions, University of Mindanao, Philippines. HFC columnist Atty. Emmanuel Tipon contributes “Grounds for Visa Denial and What You Can Do.” There is a long list that could be grounds for a visa denial, but it’s possible to file a waiver that could get your visa approved, our immigration expert says. Lastly, HFC contributor Rose Churma writes on a biography of Andres Luna de San Pedro, a famous Filipino architect. At the end of World War I in 1918, Andres Luna graduated from Ecole Des Beaux Arts in Paris and was one of the architects of the Grand Palais de Champs Elysees. When he returned to the Philippines, he helped introduce the Art Deco style in the Philippines and enriched it with Filipino tropical elements.
We hope you enjoy these stories and our other columns and news. Visit our webpage for back issues at thefilipinochronicle. com. Thank you for supporting the Hawaii Filipino Chronicle. Until next issue,warmest Aloha and Mabuhay!
Publisher & Executive Editor
Charlie Y. Sonido, M.D.
Publisher & Managing Editor
Chona A. Montesines-Sonido
Associate Editors
Edwin QuinaboDennis Galolo
Contributing Editor
Belinda Aquino, Ph.D.
Design
Junggoi Peralta
Photography
Tim Llena
Administrative Assistant
Lilia Capalad
Editorial & Production Assistant
Jim Bea Sampaga
Columnists
Carlota Hufana Ader
Elpidio R. Estioko
Perry Diaz
Emil Guillermo
Melissa Martin, Ph.D.
Seneca Moraleda-Puguan
J.P. Orias
Pacita Saludes
Reuben S. Seguritan, Esq.
Charlie Sonido, M.D.
Emmanuel S. Tipon, Esq.
Contributing Writers
Clement Bautista
Edna Bautista, Ed.D.
Teresita Bernales, Ed.D.
Sheryll Bonilla, Esq.
Rose Churma
Serafin Colmenares Jr., Ph.D.
Linda Dela Cruz
Carolyn Weygan-Hildebrand
Amelia Jacang, M.D.
Caroline Julian
Raymond Ll. Liongson, Ph.D.
Federico Magdalena, Ph.D.
Matthew Mettias
Maita Milallos
Paul Melvin Palalay, M.D.
Renelaine Bontol-Pfister
Seneca Moraleda-Puguan
Mark Lester Ranchez
Jay Valdez, Psy.D.
Glenn Wakai
Amado Yoro
Philippine Correspondent:
Greg Garcia
Neighbor Island Correspondents:
Big Island (Hilo and Kona)
Grace LarsonDitas Udani
Kauai
Millicent Wellington
Maui
Christine Sabado
Big Island Distributors
Grace LarsonDitas Udani
Kauai Distributors
Amylou Aguinaldo
Nestor Aguinaldo
Maui Distributors
Cecille PirosRey Piros
Molokai Distributor
Maria Watanabe
Oahu Distributors
Yoshimasa Kaneko
Pamela Gonsalves
Gen X Filipinos is the first generation to seek a solid balanced life between work-life and personal/family-life. As latchkey children who saw their workaholic parents not being around as much, Gen X are up for the hard grind challenges of work and putting in long hours, but they also prioritize personal and family time.
To achieve this balanced life, Gen Xers seek employment that provides flexibility over money. They seek jobs and careers and thrive at companies that offer flexibility. They enjoy freedom to work independently, which is perhaps why Gen Xers are drawn to entrepreneurial work and side-projects.
Filipino Gen X leaders are engrossed in finding solutions to
Shalimar / Jonathan Pagulayan
Advertising / Marketing Director
Chona A. Montesines-Sonido
Account Executives
Carlota Hufana Ader
JP Orias
(
Congratulations to Michelle Yeoh for making history as the first Asian lead actress winner for “Everything, Everywhere All at Once” at the 95th Academy (Oscars) Awards. It was a thrilling, emotional win not only for Michelle, but as she says herself, but also a victory for all the people who look like her. It took 95 years for the Academy to finally recognize the work of an Asian actor in this category, and Yeoh couldn’t have been more deserving on merit and talent alone.
Her exact words at the Oscars, “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams, dream big, and dreams do come true.” In earlier previous awards where she took top honor in the Female Lead category such as the Golden Globes, Yeoh said the same thing, but paraphrased differently.
At the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards, she said in her acceptance speech, “This is not just for me, this is for every little girl that looks like me” and “We want to be seen, we want to be heard.”
for other historically ignored groups in Hollywood whose exceptional work will be recognized and honored in the future.
We hope that a time will come when Asians no longer have to talk about cultural and ethnic empowerment and identification at the Academy and just address the project’s worth and simply thank the voters and those who’ve helped make their personal achievement come to fruition.
But until that time comes -- we are not anywhere near there yet with only this first recognition. And despite some pushback from identity politics detractors, Yeoh was right and courageous to talk about this historical neglect.
A late pushback over Yeoh bringing this truth to light happened on the week of the Oscars. On her social media page, Yeoh retweeted (not her own words) nine screengrabs from a Vogue article titled “It’s Been Over Two Decades Since We’ve Had a NonWhite Best Actress Winner. Will That Change in 2023?”
After much brouhaha over the truth and her simply stating a factual reality, Yeoh deleted that tweet due to mounting pressure.
she would be an inspiration to people who look like her.
Bravo, Michelle! It should be noted that other minorities in the past have chosen not to recognize the “elephant in the room” (underrepresentation at the Academy and by extension Hollywood), and simply bask in the limelight for themselves after winning an award.
But Michelle chose a different route, one more selfless, activist-minded and truthful.
What is that truth? -- that for almost a century in the U.S., Asian characters, actors, stories and storytellers have been received with indifference by Hollywood and the Academy.
It can be argued that the accolades received for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Michelle Yeoh’s win would not have been possible if it were not for the current WOKE movement, this cultural-social movement today that has as its central theme – respect and mutual understanding and recognition for ALL people.
and moving forward, and we’re moving toward a more enlightened, informed and “educated” society.
What does this mean politically and concretely, to be WOKE? It means groups traditionally on the peripheries will not be splintered but come together as a united front to correct historical wrongs and indifference that left us at the peripheries of society for far too long.
In this specific case with Yeoh and the Academy, it means that Filipino, Japanese, Asian Indian, and our White, Black, and Latino voting members of the Academy, will come together and vote on MERIT and other factors like inclusion and historical neglect.
The “un-woke” will argue: “there should only be merit as a consideration for the awards.”
Really? But when has that ever been true – in Hollywood, the Academy or life in general.
A recent USA Today/Ipsos Poll gave respondents a choice to pick one of two definitions of what they accept to be the meaning of WOKE.
Fifty six percent chose WOKE to mean “to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustice.” Broken down by political party affiliation, three-fourths of Democrats and more than a third of Republicans accepted this meaning.
In contrast, 39% opted for the negative definition of WOKE, “to be overly politically correct and police others’ words.” Fifty-six percent of Republicans chose that definition.
While that USA Today/ Ipsos Poll looks encouraging, there is still more work to be done toward greater equality, and not just at the Academy or Hollywood, but in every sector.
Our community hopes that this wonderful acknowledgement of talent is a watershed moment and will pave the way
But here is where Michelle proved that she is the heroic fighter like the characters she portrays in many of her movies. On the night of the Oscars, her very first words were, once again, about offering up hope that
It’s very possible that if it weren’t for raised consciousness in American society and thus Hollywood (and voters of the academy) at this very moment, Yeoh’s superb acting would have been relegated to the dust bin as far as critics’ choice and recognition go.
This pushback or argument against WOKE is “code” for – “let’s keep it how it is, keep business as usual,” which has been historically far more challenging for people of color.
To be WOKE is to see what’s really going on. To be WOKE is action. It is to lift the veil of pretense. challenges that affect all of Hawaii from combating climate change to building a diverse economy that will provide the jobs and careers to enable residents to stay in the state.
Another major priority is expanding inventory for affordable housing (for the same reason as building a diverse economy). On Oahu alone, 24,000 new units are needed over the next 15 years to address pent-up demand.
The cost of living in Hawaii is astronomical. Working to build a diverse economy and affordable housing will help
local residents with the high cost of living, but there must be solutions to our overreliance of imported goods that is largely responsible for the high price of food and essentials.
This is where local food sustainability could offer some relief. The state must invest in farming infrastructure and build the local food industry to a scale of economy that would eventually make locally grown foods more affordable. At the moment, only some locally produced foods are more affordable than imported food because of scale of economy.
Fortunately, the WOKE movement is gaining steam
There needs to be larger output. These are only a few of the challenges Filipino Gen Xers, now very much a part of the state’s leadership, are tasked with.
It will be interesting to see how this generation’s legacy will be interpreted by local historians and by our own Filipino community 20 years from now.
The mantle has been passed from Baby boom to Gen X. We are hoping that our Gen X leaders will build on the previous generations and make our community proud of their contributions.
Breaking barriers and old-thinking is a process. And make no mistake there are major detractors. For now, Michelle Yeoh’s win and her courage to bring to light the underrepresentation element -- instead of hiding the elephant in the room -- is a start.
In the current age of information overload, one social phenomenon receiving scant attention is the rise of Gen Xers (those 41-57 years old) as the new generation now anchoring themselves at the helm of society.
From politics in the new governor of the state of Hawaii Josh Green to presidents of France, Britain and Canada to titans of corporations in Elon Musk and Michael Dell, there is a changing of the guard in leadership globally from Baby boomer to Gen Xers.
Locally, Filipino American Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz is chair of the powerful Senate Ways and Means committee and is one among several Gen X political heavyweights.
Carrying on the torch of media professionals of Filipino ancestry, Annalisa Burgos is that news anchor and reporter often bringing to viewers hard news as well as human interest stories of Asia and the Philippines. Before moving to Hawaii, Burgos was news anchor and managing editor at ABS-CBN News, an international cable network giant based in the Philippines.
On the community and government front, Hawaii Filipino Chronicle’s (HFC) cover story alumni are still at the pinnacle of their careers – Jade Butay, who HFC interviewed as State Transportation director, is now head of the state Department of Labor and In-
Gen X predates the digital and internet era but was the first generation that facilitated their growth. It is the first generation when women entered the workforce in masse, which spawned on the positive side women’s financial security and expanded opportunities; and arguably on the downside, it’s the first generation that saw the rise of divorce and high single parenting rates.
dustrial Relations. Luis Salaveria, who HFC interviewed as Director of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) is now Director of Budget and Finance.
In Hawaii’s top industry, the visitor’s industry, Joe Ibarra, General Manager of the Kahala Hotel & Resort; and in medicine and academia, the freshly appointed new interim dean of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) Dr. Lee Buenconsejo-Lum, both (also HFC cover story alumni) are among the prominent Gen X movers and shakers.
On issues of importance to Gen X leaders of today, Gen Xer Caroline Julian-Freitas Director of Communications & Community at Ulupono Initiative, a mission-driven venture of The Omidyar Group, that focuses on areas of local food production, renewable energy, clean transportation and better management of freshwater and waste, said climate change is among the top issues for Gen X leaders.
“Gen X leaders should continue to tackle climate change. We are in a climate crisis so people and industries should quickly transition into using methods of transportation that emit fewer carbon emissions and use clean energy. We should also accelerate creating a circular economy – reduce, reuse, recycle to address the impacts of harm being caused
Gen X is the latchkey generation that had teens coming home from school to care for themselves. It is a time when Gen Xers cultivated their independence, self-sufficiency and flexibility – which learned behavior would stick with them in the workplace.
According to Pew Research Center, Gen X is known for being self-reliant, values independence and autonomy in their work.
Flexibility in all aspects of life, including in work is something they prioritize. Gen
Xers seek work that provides them freedom to reach their goals, according to FamilySearch.org. Their unyielding requirement for freedom and independence (a carry-over from their formative latchkey days) is one reason why remote work has taken off, and increasingly demanded by Gen Xers when possible.
Government worker veteran: Delos Santos
Gen Xer Venus Delos Santos, a community liaison who has worked at the Ha-
to our planet with single-use products,” said Julian-Freitas.
Climate change, social justice, building a green economy – are but a few issues high up the ladder of Gen X values; and areas they are navigating through in search of maximizing societal benefits.
Gen Xers play a critical role in the workplace today. Most of them have at least 20 years of work experience and are ready to accept the challenge of leadership as Baby boomers retire.
But before any forecasting can be constructed on what to expect of today’s Gen X leadership, to get a better understanding of who Gen Xers are and what shaped them and why – an exercise of deconstruction is a revelatory start, to go way back to Gen Xer’s formative years and the events that punctuated their maturation years.
waii State Capitol for over 20 years, said what “Gen Xers bring to the table as adults now, especially those who now are leaders of our communities, are transparency, an impatience for bureaucracy, a strife for policy that makes sense, and a search for why if it doesn’t.”
As someone who has been working for government dealing with many different issues and educating the public on the legislative process, Delos Santos said it [governance specific to lawmaking] can of-
ten be a very contentious and controversial environment to work in and that tolerance can be a tool to diffuse some of that contention.
She explains, “Tolerance is a very adaptive tool, which perhaps stems from the Gen X experience in early life. We were raised during a time of increasing divorce rates and blended families.
“Although my parents did not divorce, I was a latchkey kid, a Gen Xer who learned and rational-
(A Portrait....from page 4) ized things on my own and relied a lot on my peers. I was raised by soap operas and MTV. I did not have a tutor and pulled out my hair when trying to do my algebra homework. It was hard, but not the kind of hard where I had walk 10 miles to go to school, as older generations did. Learning from mistakes and growing from them will always be a part of every generation’s experience,” she said.
Julian-Freitas said, “Gen Xers grew up quickly and became self-reliant sooner without their parents around the house often. They witnessed their parents working long, hard hours to provide for the family. Although parents were always working, they somehow were able to amazingly instill the value of hard work, determination, seeking higher education with humbleness in their children. As a result, Gen X leaders are hardworking, results-oriented, entrepreneurial and independent thinkers, among other things.”
What’s different about the latchkey generation to parenting today, Julian-Freitas said, “Gen X parents, tend to be the parent they never had – involved with school activities, perhaps stay at home instead of work so they can be there for the children when they got home from school. Gen Xers also wanted to establish themselves with their career before settling down and having children.” Julian-Freitas has two children.
Delos Santos, also a mother of two children said of watching her children, the millennial generation grow up, they “seemingly were born magnetized right out of the womb, ready to take on the digital age, obsessed with social media, smartphones, gaming, and apps, making themselves rich moguls of tech, many still in their youthful days.”
She makes the point that home computing was born in Gen X. “We experienced its growth, development, spread and influence like wildfire in
our day. Online college degrees are considered practical and valid now. What strikes me as a Gen Xer is that a college degree itself is no longer considered the holy grail of success. Granted, there are no guarantees in life, but the trend seems to be, to me, that people achieve phenomenal success without a college degree, and those that do excel at university, can never manage to convert this to career success, plus are now stuck with enormous student debt.”
Contrasting the Baby boom generation to Gen X Delos Santos said, “working at the hub of law-making, climate change and the environment have been topics of discussion and legislation. There is a genuine interest for sustainability, alternate forms of energy, and almost a demand for lifestyle changes to conform with environmental benefits.
“And some blame the Baby boomers who made the acquisition of money a priority. They achieved the American dream--a steady career, a house, a car, and a family in the suburbs. They reaped benefits from low interest rates and inflated housing prices, which increased the value of their assets. They developed a here-and-now mentality that many say came at the expense of younger generations, like Gen Xers and millennials, who are now left to pick up the pieces and are now ex-
pected to find new ways to live in a resource-depleting world and survive.”
The Baby boom generation had the Vietnam war, Gen X also grew up while wars erupted in the Middle East. But unlike the generation before them that mobilized and saw activism as an agent of change, Gen Xers while in college were comparatively indifferent.
Baby boomers launched the flower power and peace movements throughout college campuses nationally. They had sit-ins and militant activism. College protests against the wars in the Middle East among Gen X were meek, isolated and hardly noticeable.
As young adults, Baby boomers were rebels and combated authority. When it became time to lead society, they’ve transformed to become dutifully institutional.
This linear transition is reversed for Gen X. They were yes-men and yes-women to authority as young adults and greenlighted whatever the Baby boom generation asked of them.
As adults, Gen X were the opposite of their predecessors -- skeptical and keen at seeing through the political and consumerism propaganda spun by the Baby boom generation.
More important than the money-to-no-end and the you-need-everything-syndrome of the Baby boom generation, Gen Xers value
balance in work, personal life and family life.
Again, such values could be traced to GenXers latchkey years and a willful effort not to have the Baby boomers’ work overload without being present for their family and children.
The first computer literate generation, Gen Xers are attracted to the fields of computers and management, Indeed’s Hiring Lab Chartbook shows.
Gen X is the most diverse generation that can fit into almost any job profile. Job specialists explain that’s because Gen Xers had experienced the most volatile work environments with the obsoletion of entire industries swallowed up by tech. That versatility makes Gen Xers the generation with the lowest retention rates, according to SurveyMonkey.
Prior to arriving at Ulupono Initiative, Julian-Freitas was the Sr. Communications Manager at the State of Hawaii’s Office of Enterprise Technology Services. Before that, she served as the Communications Director for Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui.
Julian-Freitas recalls her childhood years dreaming of building a career in communications even before college.
“As a little girl, I remember watching the news and watching Filipina Emme Tomimbang [former TV anchor and reporter]. I loved listening to the delivery of the news and watching how video and words told a story. Everything about it – I knew that’s what I wanted to be – a TV news reporter.
“In college, I interned at a couple TV stations just to get my feet wet in the local TV industry so that I would be prepared when I graduated with my journalism degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My 18-yearold self was very naïve to think that I would land a job right away upon graduation, not connecting the dots that it also would depend on whether there was a job opening in the small industry we had – three TV stations, at that time. Excited with a degree in hand, I soon discovered getting in at the entry level as an associate producer was tough.”
By the time GenXers grew up and entered the workplace, job competitiveness rose with an expanded workforce of women. While the struggle for women’s rights was started in the U.S. by previous generations, it was Gen X that saw most young girls thinking about and pursuing careers.
Julian-Freitas said she worked a couple of jobs, in public relations, teaching, (continue on page 6)
American history.
But that’s just it.
By Emil Guillermoloody Sun-
day,” the day of the 1965 Selma march for voting rights and social justice and the violent response to it by white Southerners, was publicly commemorated over the weekend.
But this year, the actual date, March 7 falls on a Tuesday this year. So we get to linger with the history into the week, giving us time to appreciate our role on that day.
It isn’t talked about much, but let the record show, Asian Americans were there marching for civil rights alongside African Americans on that historic date.
AAPIs were in coalition with African Americans.
Vincent Wu was one of MLK’s bodyguards that day and was arrested at Selma. It’s a little-known bit of Asian
There’s a lot in history that isn’t widely known, which is why you should see Ishmael Reed’s “The Conductor.” It’s playing now off-Broadway at Theater for the New City through March 26.
But even if you’re in California, Hawaii, Europe, or the Northern Marianas Islands, you can still get a livestream ticket and watch the latest from the MacArthur genius award-winning novelist, poet, essayist and playwright who turns in a Shavian tour de force. (You can get tickets at https:// theaterforthenewcity.net/ shows/the-conductor-2023/.)
It’s the second project I’m doing since mid-February. The first being my one-man show “Emil Amok: Lost NPR Host…” also in New York City.
I tell my friends for Lent, I gave up my life to be an actor.
It just made sense to stay to be in Reed’s play too, though admittedly, I have my biases.
I have known Ishmael
Reed for more than 40 years and have a small comic part in the play. When I was in a creative writing MFA program, Reed was the visiting professor. When one teacher told me to stop writing about Filipino characters, Reed told me to stick them back in.
That’s what Ishmael Reed’s life has been about: imagining stories of inclusion, where we matter and count. All of us. Asians, Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans. All of us.
Ishmael Reed was woke when others were walking around happily playing dead. Now being anti-woke is a
thing. And they are portraying “wokeness” as the problem.
In “The Conductor,” Reed takes a satirical swing at the rise of anti-wokeness by taking a recent news story, last year’s recall of progressive school board members in “liberal” San Francisco, and then imagining an outrageous scenario.
There’s a fictional mad Indian prime minister who shoots down a U.S. spy plane.
Indians in America come under attack and are victims of xenophobic hate.
A Fugitive Indian Act is being debated in Congress, and in anticipation of its passage, Indian Americans flee to Canada where they can seek refuge by taking a flight back to India.
It is a crisis and Indian Americans are seeking refuge through a new underground railroad to get to Canada.
Hence, the need for “The Conductor.”
Far-fetched? We just had the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of more than
120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed for the incarceration of Japanese Americans was never formally overturned.
The precedent is still there. Think it can’t happen again? Considering the conditions of the current court, nothing appears to be “settled law.”
You’ll think of the Japanese American experience, even though Reed’s play focuses on Indian Americans. But why stop there? Considering the recent news stories of espionage balloons and China’s current courtship of Russia, there’s an eerie feeling when one of the characters in “The Conductor” boldly states, “The fate of immigrants is tied to their countries of origin.”
Reed’s satirical vision can almost seem too plausible and not exaggerated enough.
The play blends the international scene with the local San Francisco school board re-
(COVER STORY: A Portrait ....from page 5) government, while working to land an associate producer position at a TV station in Honolulu. “I even applied at TV stations in Las Vegas the year my brother moved there. But in my heart, I had the desire to stay in Hawaii, to build my career and be part of my community. It took a lot of patience, determination and drive to keep on trying after knocking at the TV stations’ doors a couple of times.”
Julian-Freites acknowledges the truism that timing can be everything. “I got my first break and taste in news when I was a part-time teacher at Farrington High School. My lead teacher had a brother who was a senior producer at ABC News in Los Angeles. My assignment was to cover breaking news that the national news would be interested in, which rarely happens
in Hawaii. Sadly, the day I got my big break was the day the first mass shooting related to workplace violence happened in Honolulu. I was standing next to my lead teacher when she got the call from her brother looking for someone to field-produce for ABC news. She told them, I’ve got the perfect person and she’s standing right next to me.
“The rest is history. I worked as a field producer for ABC news and covered several big stories happening in Hawaii. I eventually got a job at KHNL News 8 and KITV. After 10 years in TV news, I felt the demand of TV news was weighing on me in addition to the changing landscape of how stories were told.
“More flash, more graphics to keep viewers’ attention. I felt the core values of what journalism was, were changing. The expectation of taking
on more responsibilities (with the introduction of TV news on the web) coupled with very low compensation made me think about a new direction. I had to make the tough decision of leaving the business I really enjoyed. But, owning a home in Hawaii was also my dream and with the pay I was getting, I didn’t believe I could save enough money to achieve it as I was watching housing prices rise and so far from reach. I told myself, ‘Well, you made one dream come true. Time to chase after another.’”
Julian-Freitas looked to politics and government as her next career path. “I minored in political science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and I decided to see what it would be like working at the Hawaii State Legislature. I got hired for a session as a legislative aide.”
After working that session, Julian-Freitas jumped
into campaign season as a volunteer for a candidate for Lt. Governor. She gained valuable first-hand experience of what it was like to run a statewide campaign – from how much money it would take, building a network, support and grassroots campaigning and messaging, she said.
After that election, she got a job as the Hawaii State Senate Communications Deputy Director. Shortly thereafter, she became director.
After 12 years in government, Julian-Freitas said she still had a lot of growth in her career to do and landed at her current job at Ulupono Initiative, where she says she “continuously learns about how to make a positive impact in our state and finds solutions to the challenges we face.”
values and an increasingly instable job market as well, relative to the Baby boom generation.
While Julian-Freitas has made career jumps in industries, she has stuck with communications and media. What she notices, “mass media communications have evolved into something other than reflecting the core values of journalism: Truth and Accuracy, Independence, Fairness and Impartiality, Humanity, and Accountability. I think some people have difficulty discerning between what is news and fake news.
I believe the community will become exasperated with the current state of sensationalism, the incredible value put on ‘likes’ and ‘views’ on social media posts and fake
Gen X is the first generation to be open to having multiple jobs and careers. It could by a reflection of both their (continue
Scores of hopeful immigrants leave U.S. embassies abroad with their American dream turning into a nightmare after receiving a one-page letter saying: “We are unable to issue you an immigrant visa because you have been found ineligible under the following Section(s) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended: Then follows a list of reasons with a check mark before the particular reason for the denial.
Here is a list of the reasons:
212(a)(1)(A)(i) You have a communicable disease of public health significance.
212(a)(1)(A)(iii) You
have now or previously had a physical or mental disorder with associated harmful behavior that may pose a threat to the property, safety or welfare of yourself or others.
212(a)(1)(A)(iv) You have abused a controlled substance.
212(a)(1)(A)(i)(I) You have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.
212(a)(1)(A)(iii)(II) You have committed acts relating to controlled substances in violation of law or regulations of the United States or another country.
212(a)(2)(C) There is reason to believe that you are a controlled substance trafficker or the spouse, son, or daughter of a substance trafficker.
212(a)(5)(A) Your labor certification (for second-or third-preference employment-based visa) was not
properly filed or canceled, or you are not qualified for the position certified, or you have not demonstrated that you will engage in the employment as certified.
212(a)(6)(C)(1) You sought to procure, or have procured, a visa or entry into the United States by fraud or by the willful misrepresentation of a material fact.
212(a)(6)(E) You knowingly assisted another alien to try to enter the U.S. in violation of the law.
212(a)(9)(A) You were ordered removed from the United States.
212(a)(9)(B)(i) You were unlawfully present in the U.S. for 181-364 days and voluntarily departed (3-year bar).
212(a)(9)(B)(ii) You were unlawfully present in the U.S. for 365 or more days (10-year bar).
221(g) Your petition is
being returned to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for additional processing. Further inquiries should be directed to USCIS at 1-800-375-5283.
221(g) You reached the maximum age and are not eligible under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA).
212(a) ___
Sometimes there is a “further explanation”.
There is a waiver for certain ineligibilities but not for others. To waive means in these cases to “forgive”. Waivers are not available for: 212(a)(1)(A)(iv)
You have abused a controlled substance.
212(a)(2)(C) There is reason to believe that you are a controlled substance trafficker or the spouse, son, or daughter of a substance trafficker.
212(a)(5)(A) Your labor certification (for second-or
third-preference employment-based visa) was not properly filed or canceled, or you are not qualified for the position certified, or you have not demonstrated that you will engage in the employment as certified.
221(g) ineligibilities.
To apply for a waiver, the alien should fill up and file Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility. If the alien was deported or removed, such alien should file Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States after Deportation or Removal. The form contain instructions on how to prepare it, the filing fee, and where to file it. Go to USCIS.gov official site to download the forms.
Before seeking a waiver, the alien should realize that asking for a waiver means asking for forgiveness. You do not ask for forgiveness for a crime or offense unless you
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news, that people will soon demand more accountability and accuracy in news consumption. It is then, we will start to see a shift back to old core values in the profession.”
Other Gen X leaders of Filipino ancestry: Florendo and Senaha
Julian-Freitas said there are many Gen X leaders of Filipino ancestry today. She
mentions two: Leon Florendo and Bobby Senaha.
Florendo is a senior counselor at Leeward Community College Waianae Moku Education Center, a full-service education center located on the Wai‘anae coast.
Florendo said their mission “is to provide residents with an accessible, affordable, high quality college experience in a supportive and respectful environment. He
have committed the crime or offense.
Therefore, if you have not committed the crime or offense why ask for a waiver. Also, if it is doubtful whether the act you committed is a crime or offense under the INA, why admit it?
By asking for a waiver, you are at the complete mercy of consular and immigration officials. Granting you a waiver is discretionary and is not likely to be reviewable in a judicial proceeding. In case of doubt, your waiver appli-
gives back to the community he grew up in -- Waianae -as not just a counselor, but a mentor and role model.
He volunteers as president of Sariling Gawa, a non-profit that fosters cultural awareness, nurtures ethnic pride and empowers youth to develop leadership skills.
Senaha is the CEO at Blackletter Group – Strategic Branding and Marketing. He is a Board Member, YMCA
cation will be denied.
Recommendation
Get an honest and competent lawyer who is experienced in handling inadmissibility grounds. Not all lawyers are honest, competent, and experienced. Do not be afraid or ashamed to ask a lawyer you are interviewing if such lawyer has handled an inadmissibility case before and what was the result. Remember. You, as the client, is the one hiring a lawyer. So you must be satisfied that
Honolulu; Board Member, Hawaii State Bar Foundation; and past Board Member, American Diabetes Association. His clients include small Filipino-owned businesses and helps them to elevate their business with strategic branding and marketing.
As of 2021, Gen X has the
your prospective employee –the lawyer – can handle the job.
ATTY. TIPON was a Fulbright and Smith-Mundt scholar to Yale Law School where he obtained a Master of Laws degree specializing in Constitutional Law. He has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, New York, and the Philippines. He practices federal law, with emphasis on immigration law and appellate federal criminal defense. He was the Dean and a Professor of Law of the College of Law, Northwestern University, Philippines.
smallest population among all generations. The millennials have now exceeded in numbers the huge Baby boom generation. Gen X is even smaller than Gen Z, according to Statista.
Sandwiched between two of the largest age groups (between Baby boom and millennials), Gen Z has something to prove. And they’re now either at the top or close to it in most industries.
He has written law books and legal articles for the world’s most prestigious legal publisher and w rites columns for newspapers. He wrote the best-seller “Winning by Knowing Your Election Laws.” Listen to The Tipon Report which he co-hosts with his son Attorney Emmanuel “Noel” Tipon. They talk about immigration law, criminal law, court-martial defense, and current events. It is considered the most witty, interesting, and useful radio show in Hawaii. KNDI 1270 AM band every Thursday at 8:00 a.m. Atty. Tipon was born in Laoag City, Philippines. Cell Phone (808) 2252645. E-Mail: filamlaw@yahoo. com. Website: https://www.tiponlaw.com.
School reunions come and go! But before they come, the alumni plan it ahead. After they go, they reminisce it and plan again for the next year’s reunion.
This is the vicious cycle of the celebration as all alumni, local or abroad, are anxiously waiting for the day of excitement to come.
Every end of the year, alumni are hoping to attend the school’s high school reunions with pride and dignity. It is a moment for them to recall their high school days spent with their classmates/schoolmates whom they haven’t seen for years after graduation.
For those who are abroad, they have to prepare for it such as saving money, stretching their pensions and working extra hours to pay for their airfares and other incidental expenses needed during the reunion.
It’s one thing they planned to do because they love to go back and rekindle their memories built throughout the years with friends and acquaintances.
Last year, the Urdaneta City National High School (UCNHS) held its Grand Alumni Homecoming 2022 on November 26-27, 2022 with a theme: “Adjusting to the New Normal, Reinventing with Reskilling and Upskilling and Being Resilient at Work till the Light Breaks Forth.”
The UCNHS alumni dedicated themselves to the memory and honor of the school’s founding Father, Dr. Pedro T. Orata, the 1971 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Community Service, for his far-reaching vision and his pragmatic wisdom in setting up the mechanics for the establishment of their Alma Mater, literally from the smoking ruins of war.
I would also like to congratulate an Urdanetanian who is a high school graduate from Divine Word Academy of Urdaneta (DWAU) who is doing great in Hawaii. She is Rosebella “Rose” Martinez, DWAU Alumnae Batch ’75. She won in the recent elections as Assembly member for Hawaii’s Congressional District 40. Congratulations Rose! She is also the president of the Urdanetanians in Hawaii.
During this reunion, UCNHS ‘Batch ‘65 was at the helm of the reunion and were actively involved in the two-day
activities. Balikbayan Batch ’65 Amelita “Mila” Gatchalian celebrated her birthday after the two-day festivities celebrating with her ka-barangay guests and members of Batch ’65.
“Those pictures and videos of mine… I can’t express how those get together merriest moments of my life attending the parade, the gala night, and many gatherings by our Batch ’65,” Mila said.
Couple Eliodoro & Vicky Calacsan from San Diego said: “Countless years and miles may stand between old friends but being with them this past Alumni Reunion last November 2022 reminded me of every memory of friendship shared even for a short time is a treasure. Eliodoro and I are so happy to see and being with old friends chatting, eating, singing and dancing, laughing out loud with them. I felt like nothing has changed since high school days and for some since elementary days. There was so much love and joy being with old friends.”
Looking at the other side of the coin, both Canada-based Fe Malagayo Alluri and San Diego, California-based Danny Calacsan are one in saying: “Yes, good things are happening during and after the reunion – the joys of getting together, the social networking, acknowledgement and appreciation of the good works and the outstanding alumni like Joweh Sumait are doing, etc.”
They however, lament the fact that some unpalatable issues seem to be hovering over the alumni organization.
Example given were –programs are meant to be read before and during the events, but this didn’t happen in the last reunion, and not after most
people have left town. They also noted the alleged financial mismanagement of a few (the case of the missing money) which happened in the past which was adjudicated and somehow happening at present.
Good points Fe and Danny. Your points are well taken in the interest of the organizers and the alumni. However, I won’t venture on this topic at this time.
Maybe, what we can do is to remind the officers of the organization to be truthful and faithful in the discharge of their duties and for the alumni to be more vigilant and respectful in monitoring the organizations activities especially in the area of finance (or any transgressions in the complicated world of alumni homecoming) to prevent things happening again.
Joweh Sumait, Chicago-based ’65 alumnus who was selected as one of the outstanding alumni during the grand reunion narrated the activities from the parade, with a simple program at the UCHS Social Hall to the culminating activity during the Gala Night at the Urdaneta Cultural Center.
Joweh was recognized in the field of community service for being a man of action and leadership for serving the community in his capacity as president of the Urdaneta Jaycees; the Rotary Mother Club of Urdaneta; chairman of the Urdaneta Town Fiesta Marathon from 1983 to2009; and as chairman of the Board, Urdaneta Water District where he was awarded by former president of the Republic of the Philippines President Gloria M. Arroyo as an outstanding board of director of the Water District.
The Emerald Get-Together Reunion of Batch ’65 was emceed by former Batch ’65 president Arsenio Dulay with President Minda Tomines at the helm. In addition to emceeing, he entertained the members with his singing and adlibs.
Batch ’65 is now planning their participation during their
Diamond Jubilee in 2025 hoping for a grand slam – Most Attended Group, Best in Uniform, Best in Float, and the selection of Queen and King of the Alumni popularity contest. Aiding the president and the rest of the officers in the planning stage is Founding Alumni President Atty. Mario Bravo, also a member of Batch’65.
Members of Batch ’65 who individually and collectively worked hard and exerted efforts in every endeavor to make the group’s active participation in the activities of the UCNHS alumni association were: Cris Ramirez, Bien Zabala Cordingley, Rizalina Garcia, Mely D. Parayno, Judina Quiming, Heminia Goroza, Henry Zabala, Bong Raymundo, Gilda Doot Nickel, Tita Umipig, Manuel Martinez, Cora Fernandez, Maria Patacsil, Minda Molina, Maria Gandia, Octavio Tinusio, Cion Jacob, Precy Duca, Bernie Elefante, Catalina Cristobal, Delfin Domagas, Agnes D. Magpalie, Leticia Ayap, Dr. Lorenzo Agbanlog, Carlos Agbanlog, Antero Pascua, Alexander Ambrosio, Roberto Bernarte , Dr. Modesto “Toto” Torbela, Roger Andrada, Aida Moreno Ambrosio, Rolando Consolation, Carmen Locquiao, Teodora Macaraeg, and Silvia Independencia.
The Grand Reunion was graced by Hon. Ramon Guico, Jr., Representative, 5th District, Pangasinan; Hon. Provincial Governor Ramon Guico 111; Hon. Mark Ronaldo DG. Lambino, Provincial Vice Governor; Hon. Chinky Perez, Provincial Board Member, 5th District of Pangasinan; City Vice- Mayor Jimmy D. Parayno; Fatima R. Boado, CSO V1, School Division Superintendent; Romel F. Millones, School Principal 1V, UCNHS; and Francisco F. Morante ’72, Alumni President.
Mayor Parayno said in his message to the alumni: “It is with great pleasure to greet you, the Urdaneta National High School Alumni Association, Inc. as you celebrate
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Hawaii is a highly sought-out vacation destination. People all over the world spend their whole lives dreaming of visiting our paradise in the middle of the Pacific.
However, the reality for those of us who live here is a ballooning cost of living that is driving many of us to the mainland in search of lower costs and greater opportunities — including medical professionals who have found Hawaii to be an increasingly uninviting place to practice. As more and more of them leave the islands or simply retire, replacing them has become one of the state’s primary policy challenges.
Fortunately, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii recently issued a policy brief, “How
changing Hawaii’s licensing laws could improve healthcare access,” that outlines several pathways on how to do that, all involving reform of the state’s medical licensing laws.
As I say in the preface of the report, our laws require “medical professionals who hold valid, unencumbered licenses in other U.S. states to endure expensive and time-consuming Hawaii bureaucratic hurdles in order to practice here. This serves no public interest. It only discourages them from coming to our state, depriving Hawaii residents of capable healthcare providers.”
I don’t believe Hawaii’s licensing laws were put in place with ill intent. Protecting the public is a commendable motive. But there comes a point when too many hoops for professionals to jump through can cause unintended consequences that outweigh the benefits.
The value of lifting Ha-
waii’s licensing laws was certainly recognized during the COVID-19 crisis. Then-Gov. David Ige issued an order that allowed certain out-of-state medical professionals to work in Hawaii to help ease our shortage of healthcare workers. But as those emergency orders have lifted, our healthcare shortage that predated the coronavirus crisis remains.
The Hawaii Physician’s Workforce Assessment Project estimates that Hawaii is short of almost 800 physicians. In addition, the Hawaii State Center for Nursing estimates Hawaii needs 300 to 400 more nurses to meet our current healthcare demands.
Clearly, it’s time to make some changes — a fact recognized by the Legislature, which is considering more than a handful of bills this session that would reform our licensing laws related to a variety of medical specialties, or at least set up working committees to study specific licensing-reform proposals.
Pathways to reform outlined by the Grassroot Institute report include joining interstate compacts, licensure recognition and licensure reciprocity.
Interstate compacts create a streamlined process that makes it easier for licensed professionals in participating states to practice across state lines. For example, the Interstate Medical Licensing Compact for doctors has 37 member states. Allowing doctors from those other states to practice in Hawaii more easily could be huge for us.
Licensing recognition is similar to measures ordered during the COVID-19 crisis. This simply means Hawaii would recognize a license issued by any other state as valid to work in Hawaii. However, because recognition laws are set by the state legislature, they would allow Hawaii to tailor its recognition so that it is extended to only extended to states with similar licensure requirements.
Licensing reciprocity involves a single state reaching agreements on an ad hoc basis with other states to accept the licenses of the others as valid.
As you can see, I am not talking about letting just anyone provide medical care. We are talking about lifting administrative burdens and opening our doors to healthcare professionals who are already licensed to practice in other states.
Medical licensing reform would not be a cure-all or quick-fix for our healthcare shortage, but it would be a step in the right direction.
If capable professionals want to work here and help improve healthcare access in the islands, it is possible to welcome them with open arms while still maintaining public safety
I’m pretty sure making it easier for medical professionals to work in Hawaii would draw a few to our shores — not just to visit but to stay and practice.
By Rose Churma
This book is a biography of Andres Luna de San Pedro, the only son of the painter, Juan Luna, and a nephew of General Antonio Luna.
Both Luna brothers featured prominently in the revolution against Spain and during the Philippine-American War. To better understand the life and times of Andres, it is necessary to know the context of his birth and his early years.
The Luna Family hails from the coastal town of Badoc in Ilocos Norte. Don Joaquin Luna de San Pedro and his wife, Laureana Novicio, had seven children—two girls and five boys.
Their oldest son, Manuel Andres was a violin virtuoso who died at age 27. Juan Luna, who came after Manuel Andres, initially studied to be a sea pilot like his older brother. During their younger years, the brothers plied the seas and visited the ports of Asia.
Sea life did not suit Juan Luna so he turned to painting and continued his studies in Europe. While there, he received various awards for his paintings, and in March 1884, his painting “Spolarium” was first displayed in Rome and eventually exhibited in Madrid where it won one of three gold medals given at the Madrid exposition—making Juan Luna a sensation overnight. He was considered a celebrity in the art capitals of the world—Madrid, Paris and Rome.
Typical of Filipino expatriates living in Europe at that time, Juan Luna bonded with his countrymen abroad, such as Jose Rizal, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo and others.
They were often invited to the home of the Pardo de Tavera residence in Paris, and this is where Juan Luna met and courted Paz, the only sister of the brothers Trinidad and Felix Pardo de Tavera.
At that time, the Pardo de Tavera widowed matriarch, Juliana Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho, mother of Paz, Trinidad and Felix also lived in virtual
exile with her children in Paris.
Juan Luna was the toast of Europe when he courted and eventually married Paz. However, despite his fame and obvious artistic talents, he never was accepted by his motherin-law.
In spite of her misgivings, Dona Juliana lived with the couple and paid for the rent, their nanny’s salary and purchased Juan Luna’s unsold artworks, and agreed to have Juan’s younger brother Antonio Luna live with them while he studied in Paris. Even then, she felt that it was a bad match from the very start.
The couple’s son, Andres, was born in Paris on September 9, 1887, followed by a daughter who died soon after, in March 1892.
Domestic abuse became a daily occurrence at the Luna residence. Juan broke a cane on Paz’s back because “she was wearing colored frocks before the mourning period for Bibi (their daughter’s nickname) was over,” and ripped all his wife’s dresses to shreds and threw these into the fireplace. When the physical assaults on Paz escalated, Dona Juliana was often heard asking Antonio Luna for help in stopping the abuse.
In the Autumn of 1892, Andres, who was five years old then, would witness his father shoot his grandmother and his mother Paz to death. It was a brutal and grisly killing, described in detail in the transcripts released by the French tribunal (and used as a reference by Filipino historians Carlos Quirino and Alfredo Roces and quoted liberally by the author of this book.)
Juan Luna was acquitted by the French court jury in February 1893 but penalized Luna to pay the Pardo de Tavera family in the amount of one French franc and the reimbursement of the cost of the trial.
Luna’s defense attorney called it a “crime of passion” and that Luna, an Ilokano, belonged to a “savage” race and once provoked, cannot be held
in 1894. In August 1896, the revolt of the Katipuneros under Andres Bonifacio would commence and Jose Rizal was executed at the Luneta in December 1896.
Shortly thereafter, the Philippine-American War broke out, and the brothers Luna would serve the first Philippine Republic. Antonio Luna was appointed commanding general of the Philippine Revolutionary Army and Juan Luna was appointed ambassador to defend the interests of the First Republic.
While in Hong Kong, Juan Luna had a heart attack and died on December 7, 1899 at 42.
Deco style in the Philippines and enriched it with Filipino tropical elements.
Andres had a prolific practice where he built mansions, monuments and mausoleums. His works received various awards, and the Crystal Arcade, built in Escolta, was considered “the crown of his ambition” and the most spectacular, as noted by one of his partners, Juan F. Nakpil.
The author asks rhetorically, “Did the curse of the Lunas blight the career of Andres Luna?” If one is superstitious, perhaps it did. His masterpiece, the Crystal Palace, was blighted by lawsuits shortly after its opening.
responsible for his actions.
Luna’s lawyer claimed that Paz was an adulteress and that the murders were caused by her alleged affair—that Paz was at fault and Luna the aggrieved party. His brother, Antonio Luna, also rallied his fellow Filipino expats and his friends in the press to picture Paz as a person who deserved to be shot point blank on the head.
Adding insult to injury, Juan Luna ended up being the administrator of the estate inherited by Andres who was still a minor, from his mother, Paz. Since Dona Juliana died first, one-third of her estate went automatically to Paz, who died eleven days after her.
If Juan Luna killed his wife first and Dona Juliana died much later, then the outcome would have been different. As the author says, “It can not be said that Luna did not know the law.”
The author, Saul Hofilena Jr. is a lawyer by training, graduating from Ateneo’s law school in 1985. A large part of the book includes his legal analysis of the court’s ruling, including the case transcript, as well as a comparative analysis of the Spanish and French legal systems and his views on Luna’s acquittal.
After Juan’s acquittal, the Luna brothers and Andres left for Manila in 1894 where Juan was treated as a celebrity— and the murder of the Pardo de Tavera women largely ignored and forgotten.
Andres Luna was enrolled at the Ateneo that same year
After his father’s death, Andres was left in the care of his uncle, Dr. Jose Luna. Information on the life of Andres during this period is scanty until the discovery of the “Andres Luna Trove” collected by Andres’ American wife, Grace V. McCrea, who left these documents with her sister, who in turn left it with a friend, Ruth Francis of New York.
Dr. Jose Luna would become the adoptive father of Andres. While still at Ateneo, Andres already showed artistic talent. Although Juan Luna was happy that Andres wanted to be a “great painter” like him, he counseled Andres—“better be an architect than a painter.”
At the end of World War I in 1918, Andres Luna graduated from Ecole Des Beaux Arts in Paris and was one of the architects of the Grand Palais de Champs Elysees and returned to the Philippines in 1920. He was appointed City Architect of Manila, an office he held until 1924. One of his projects was the Legarda Elementary School—Victorian in style but followed the adage of “form follows function”— it made use of local materials and local artists like Isabelo Tampinco.
This project became Andres’ calling card to the rich who wanted their houses designed by the son of Juan Luna and thus started his private practice as an architect in 1925. After attending the Exposition Internationale in Paris with fellow architects Juan Arellano and Juan F. Nakpil that same year, they introduced the Art
During the Japanese years, his beautiful creations were commandeered by the enemy and turned into torture chambers and makeshift hospitals for their wounded. On the other hand, his works which survived the war were demolished by greedy and opportunistic developers.
Among his buildings that survived was Paaralang Legarda, or what used to be Legarda Elementary School. It became the headquarters of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and a hospital for American soldiers. In 1991, the Philippines National Historical Institute placed a marker on the site which described the history of the building. Unfortunately, the name of its architect, Andres Luna, was never mentioned.
In 1950, Andres Luna was elected President of the Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA) and was awarded the first “Gold Medal of Merit” before he passed away in 1952 at the age of 64.
The book is filled with historical gems as gleaned from papers left by Andres’ wife, Grace. It also includes photographs of Andres Luna’s designs, sketches, facsimiles of Juan Luna’s and Andres Luna’s artwork and other memorabilia.
How the author acquired what he calls the “Andres Luna Trove” has the makings of a potential book by itself.
The narrative adopted by the author does not follow a straight sequence but meanders—depending on the letter (continue on page 13)
Brain drain, the phenomenon where highly educated professionals leave for another country to work or live in better conditions, has been an urgent concern in the Philippines. This includes scientists and researchers whose works are highly valued abroad.
According to statistics, the Philippines only has around 18,000 researchers. Given the population of the Philippines which is more than 100 million, this number is way lower than the UNESCO’s benchmark of 380 researchers per million people.
Fortunately, there are still scientists and researchers who decide to go back and pursue
call, which gave the anti-woke movement a national boost.
If you haven’t noticed, the culture wars are being fought most vigorously at the grassroots level with education as the focus.
Issues like admissions to elite high schools, as well as curriculum debates over history that’s critical of America’s missteps of the past.
The movement’s prime proponents are people like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is on a mission to cleanse the schools of real history in favor of a glorifying and patriotic, U.S. history. A happy history. The crit-
(BOOK REVIEW: Luna....from page 12)
or artifact that was the source of his information.
Nevertheless, it is an important publication for those interested in the Philippine history. As an architect trained in the Philippines, it blew my mind to realize that this is the first time I’ve heard of Andres Luna and his works.
I read this book on March 8, 2023 which was International Women’s Day. It left me depressed that after reading the book and realized that 130 years ago, two women were
research in the Philippines. One of them is Dr. Chosel Lawagon.
Dr. Lawagon is engaged as a long-term ‘Balik Scientist’ under the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Balik Scientist Program (BSP), serving as the Director at the Center of Green Nanotechnology Innovations for Environmental Solutions, University of Mindanao, Philippines.
ical be damned. To DeSantis, the problem is “the woke mind virus that’s infected the left and all these other institutions.”
But of course, we increasingly have those amongst us in the AAPI community who sound just like DeSantis. Nikki Haley speaks of anti-wokeness and the need for generational change. She also wants to be president.
So does Vivek Ramaswamy, a much younger Indian American with Ivy League credentials, who doesn’t mind pushing out Haley. Ramaswamy is more anti-woke than even any right-
murdered and the perpetrator was acquitted.
Not only acquitted, but he was also celebrated!
Although the author was sympathetic to the plight of the victims and the child who would live with the tragedy and carry it into adulthood, it still left me with indignation at the injustice that occurred.
Soon after reading this book, as I surfed Facebook, it lightened my mood to know that the writer Gina Apostol (Gun Dealers’ Daughter, 2013;
erate the flow of new strategic technologies that are vital to national development.
Diligence, persistence, and passion were the things that kept Dr. Lawagon from giving up despite the challenges of being a female scientist. She shares with us her journey in pursuing a career that doesn’t just benefit her but the scientific community and the Philippines as a whole.
chemical engineering at UM in April 2013. Then, in August of the same year, I pursued a Ph.D. in Energy Science and Technology at Myongji University, South Korea.
Q: Please tell us something about your research at Myongji University. What were the challenges you faced as a graduate student?
DCL: My dissertation is “Lithium recovery from salt water via ion exchange and electrochemical systems with nanocomposite.”
BSP is the brain gain initiative of the Philippine government which aims to tap into the ingenuity and expertise of Filipinos abroad to strengthen the capabilities of local researchers in the academe, public and private sectors, and industry.
It was initiated to reverse the effects of brain drain, to provide researchers and scientists whose expertise are not available locally, and to accel-
wing white zealot.
You can see their ilk in “The Conductor,” played by me. In my small part, I am a Pacific Islander who has just won the Manhattan Institute’s “Anglo of the Month Award.”
Now that’s funny.
Amid the satire, “The Conductor” is chock full of history, specifically Asian American history, the parts that aren’t taught currently in schools. You’ll learn about the writer Frank Chin, a key member of the Chinese American avant-garde, hardly known to Chinese Americans but studied by scholars in China and Japan.
Insurrecto, 2018), has won the Rome Prize for Literature and will write about Juan Luna’s murdered wife, Paz Pardo de Tavera. I look forward to that book.
ROSE CRUZ CHURMA established Kalamansi Books & Things three decades ago. It has evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an on-line advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the Philippines and those written by Filipinos in the Diaspora.
We can be reached at kalamansibooks@gmail.com.
Question: What was your course in college and when did you graduate?
Dr. Chosel Lawagon: I graduated in April 2010 with Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Mindanao (UM), Davao City. I passed the licensure exam that same year. I then started teaching in UM’s College of Engineering while at the same time serving as a Volunteer staff of the Jesus Disciple Movement. I also finished my master’s in
You’ll learn about the Indian caste system and Dalits, and how immigrants have brought that cultural racism into America to the point where new laws are needed to ban caste-based discrimination. Seattle became the first city to pass such a law just last month.
It’s all sprinkled throughout in a satirical portrayal of exactly where we are in modern American race history.
Sometimes, I feel like I was not be able to finish it due to some difficulty in doing the experiments and being in a foreign land with foreign supervisors. But only by God’s grace, was I able to finish my Ph.D. in 2018.
Q: After your stint in South Korea, where did you go or what did you do?
DCL: In 2019, I pursued a Postdoctoral fellowship at Chulalongkorn University,
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And where’s that?
We’re 58 years away from “Bloody Sunday” and still have a long way to go.
Get tickets to see “The Conductor” in person in NYC, or livestreamed at https://theaterforthenewcity.net/shows/ the-conductor-2023/.
EMIL GUILLERMO is a journalist and commentator. His talk show is on www.amok.com.
ILOKO By Amado I. Yoro nangted ti tiempo, talento ken oras, ar-aramiden “Concerned Leaders in Action Group,” in partnership iti United Filipino Council of Hawaii
Men, dakami nga agiburburnay iti bennal ti unas nga agbalin a basi. Aglebbek iti bunga ti samak, ukis ti kariskis, aggelgel ti nagango a bulong ti samak a rekado ti aramidenmi a basi.
BMaysa a natakneng ken naindaklan a panagserbi a boluntario no makatulongka iti sabali a tao. Panagayat. Panangipaay. Aramid a kinaimbag.
Intayon makipagserbi idiay shelter pada a volunteer.
Idiay shelter wenno iti Institute for Human Services [IHS], adda agkuna iti ‘thank you’, mahalo, God Bless. Adda isem, adda namnama kadakuada tunggal mapan ti grupo, agserbi ken agpamakan.
“What a good feeling and sense of sharing” kinuna ti maysa kadagiti kaduak a volunteer.
“Coming here to serve is worthied,” kinuna met ni Art Abinsay. Nagbalin a regular volunteer ni Art ket nagangayanna, naawisna dagiti kakabsat ken kayongna a timmipon iti grupo, dagiti pamilia Alimboyoguen ken Abinsay.
Saan a gapu iti UFCH Resolusion 2010-01 a naaprobaran idiay Lahaina, Maui, idi kombension ti UFCH, Hulio 2010, kas panangidatagmi kada Jun Abinsay, Danny Villaruz ken siak, agpapadakami a nagpresidente iti OFCC, ngem gapu met laeng iti espiritu ti panagserbi ken pan-
1. Oahu Filipino Community Council
2. Divine Word College of Laoag College Alumni Assn of Hawaii
3. Ilocos Surian Assn of Hawaii
4. Ilocos Norte College of Arts & Trade Alumni
5. United Group Home Operators
6. SCORE
7. ALWAD
8. Filipino Womens Civic Club
9. Filipino Business Womens Assn
10. Annak Ti Sinait
11. Sinait Alumni Assn of Hawaii
12. San Nicolas Teachers Assn of Hawaii
13. International Filipino Society of Hawaii
14. Fil-Am Sports USA ti nagtitipon a gunglo Filipino iti salinong ti UFCH ken OFCC ti panagtalinaed nga aktibo ti grupo iti tunggal maudi a Lunes tunggal bulan, nangrugi pay la kadagiti immun-unan nga aldaw. Ngem iti kinapateg ti proyekto, nagbalin a partnership.
Saanak nga agpangadua, adda met dagiti immun-una idin a gunglo a mangaramid iti serbisio mabalin a dua wenno ad-adu a daras iti maysa a tawen nga ipapanda iti shelter kas paset ti programa-
da. Adda pay dagiti mapan iti naisangayan nga aldaw kas iti kasanguanan wenno kalpasan ti Thanksgiving, Paskua, wenno Baro a Tawen.
Ngem idi Enero 2001, kas pangulo ti Program and Planning and Community Relations Committee, indatagko iti Annak Ti Sinait Iti Hawaii ken Sinait Alumni Association of Hawaii a maaddaan koma dagitoy a gunglo iti proyekto a kas Feed the Homeless, Hawaii Food Bank, Blood Bank of Hawaii ken dadduma. Ket kasta met nga indatagko iti DWCLCAAH, a binuniagak iti MISSION DAY SERVICE a sakupenna ti community outreach: Feed the Homeless, a no dadduma managan iti Feed the 5000 kas sagpaminsan nga aramidenmi iti simbaan a nakaikamengak, Adopt a Hwy, Hawaii Food Bank Drive, banag a naanamongan idi Agosto 2009.
Kas Co-Chair ti UFCH Social Action Committee idi 2009, indatagko iti agpada a hunta ti UFCH/OFCC, nagbalin a partnership ket narugian daytoy a proyekto idi Oktubre 2009 babaen iti pannakiurnosmi iti tinawen nga eskedeul iti Volunteer Coordinator iti Institute for Human Services Ana Iose ken Leigh Smith.
Dua a pasdek wenno lugar [sites] Men ken Women. Adda aganay a 75 a kliente iti yan dagiti babbai idinto a 200-250 iti yan dagiti lallaki.
“Dakami man laengen iti Filipino Womens Civic Club ken Filipino Business Women Association, Magsingal Association ti mangsakup iti yan dagiti babbai” no saanak a mariro, ni Armi Farinas ti nagkuna. Ni
Armi ti presidente ti Magsingal Association of Hawaii, dati a Mrs. Hawaii Filipina. Kadagitoy nga aldaw, malaksid kadagiti orihinal a gunglo kas nadakamat iti pakauna iti ngato, timmipon ti
1. Cabugao Sons & Daughters
2. St. Paul’s Church
3. Vigan Association of Hawaii
4. Filipino Coalition for Solidarity
5. Bible Group
6. 808 Da Barkads
Adda met espesial a partisipasion da Mrs. Hawaii Filipina Jema Geronimo, Miss Hawaii Filipina Celina Macadangdang Hayashi, Miss Teen Hawaii Alyssa Reyes, Miss Hawaii Filipina Margaret Pascual, Miss Oahu Filipina Marnelli Joy Basilio.
Panagyamanmi iti imbag nakem ken tiempo para kadagiti masansanen a tumulong iti tunggal maudi a Lunes iti binulan: Art Abinsay, Marcelo Acopan,Aurea Agas, Eddie Agas, Philip Alcain, Edna Alikpala, Jimmy Alimboyoguen, Nelia Abinsay Alimboyoguen, Melecio Balais, Suzie Berardy, Flordelis Cabuslay, Jimmy Cabuslay, Charlene Cuaresma, Estelita Dela Cruz, Raquel Dizon, Maggie Domingo, Maria Etrata, Bernadette Fajardo, Mimi Gozar, Lynne Gutierrez, Rheanne Gutierrez, Ruben Gutierrez, Jean Jeremiah, Angel Lewis, Cirvalina Longboy, Wilma Abinsay Luangphinith, Esther Pascual, Jesse Pascual, Lucy Pascual, Richard Pascual, Connie Ramirez, Larry Ramirez, Agnes Reyes, Al Sabangan, Rose Sabangan, Cora Salvador, Fe Velasco, Danny Villaruz.
Agtultuloy daytoy a proyekto iti nagan iti pa-
(ASI SEE IT: High School....from page 10)
your 2022 Alumni Home Coming. Your theme is an expression of commitment and determination to withstand any adversity, it drives every alumna to take part in nation re-building and in the service of the others thru the activities initiated by UCNHS. Altogether, hold on to hope that the sun is still shining behind the clouds. Focus on the things that matter to yourselves and to others.”
nagserbi babaen ti saan nga agsardeng a suporta ken tiempo dagiti nainaganan iti ngato.
Simmaruno a timmipon dagiti dadduma a papagayam a mangibagi iti grupoda kas iti Santiagueneans of Hawwaii nga ipanguluan da Maria Cristina White ken Tom Quintos, Sto Domingo, nga ipanguluan ni Isabel Phu, Fr. Peter Dumag, Roger ken Edith Tapat.
Maawis amin dagiti dadduma a kameng ken lider ti gunglo, kameng ken saan iti UFCH/OFCC. Nupay saan unay nga aktibo ti suporta ti liderato ti OFCC/UFCH iti tawen 2016-2018, sa immay ti Covid-19, saankami a naupay a mangitultuloy latta iti liderato da Angie Santiago, John Witeck UFCH/Bulacan Circle ken kakaduada, iti 2022 sinublianmi manen ti shelter a kas met iti Adopt a Hwy Clean up iti Kalihi St/Likelike Hwy 2 miles stretch manioud iti Nimitz Hwy aginggana iti Kula Kolea Rd. Nupay insardengen ti Samahang Ilocano International ti Adopt a Hwy Farrington Hwy, Wiapahu nga indauluan dagiti agassawa a Noli ken Linda Butay. Naminsan nga Adopt a Park iti Neal Blaisdell Park, Pearl City babaen iti nagtitipon a grupo, nakairamanan dagiti kandidata ti Miss Oahu Filipina nga inuggor ida ni Mrs. Hawaii Filipina Armi Farinas.
Ti panagserbi ti maysa a galad ti tao. Kawesna ti serbisio a gratis.
KASTOY: “It is not your wealth and richness that make you great person, your quality contributions and services to your community and other people makes you great” Kinuna ni James Gregory Lord. Volunteer Coordinator.
Will Batch ’65 be able to make a grand slam during their Dimond Jubilee in 2025? They almost got it during their Golden Jubilee. But maybe this time, they will make it!
ELPIDIO R. ESTIOKO was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and a multi-awarded journalist here in the US. For feedbacks, comments… please email the author at estiokoelpidio@gmail.com.
LET’S ZUMBA | Filipino Community Center | Every Monday starting January 9, 2023 at 6:15pm | FilCom Center, Consuelo Courtyard, 94-428 Mokuola Street, Waipahu | Need to unwind in movement and dance after a long workday? Join the community as we Zumba through the evening. Only $5 per class. Proceeds go to support these program-types for FilCom Center.
COVID-19 & FLU FREE VACCINATION | Filcom Cares | Feb. 16, Mar. 16, Apr. 20, May 18 and Jun 15 from 10am to 12pm | Filipino Community Center, 94-428 Mokuola St., Waipahu | FilCom Cares is inviting the community to get jabbed in the upcoming free vaccination drive. Flu vaccines and COVID-19 shots are available for free to the community. Just bring your photo ID, medical insurance card (if any), and your vaccination card. For more information, call FilCom Cares at 808-369-5380.
If you’re a consumer enrolled in 2022 Marketplace health insurance, you must file your federal taxes by April 18, 2023.
To lower insurance costs, most consumers received an advanced premium tax credits based on their estimated
income in 2022. Consumers must reconcile their estimated income with their actual income in 2022 by filing federal taxes. Any difference between the advanced premium tax credits and actual tax credits may impact their refunds or taxes owed.
Here are three reminders to consumers from the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii:
1. Get your 1095A from the mail or login to your Marketplace account and print the form.
2. Check that the information on your 1095A is cor-
The Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) is now accepting applications for its 2023 Annual Immersion Program in the Philippines.
After a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
Bangkok, Thailand, under Prof. Tawatchai Charinpanitkul as my supervisor. My study focus was the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials from petrochemical wastes. I also mentored Masteral students. After this, I started my shortterm BSP (Jan-Mar 2020) engagement at UM under DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development.
After the engagement, I was supposed to pursue another postdoctoral fellowship abroad, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused lockdowns in several countries. So, I stayed in the Philippines. But the University of Mindanao offered me a Research Faculty position, and given that I have nothing yet to do, I took the job (April 2020). After doing my online BSP Exit presentation in August 2020, DOST-PCIEERD learned that I am already with UM. Hence,
the immersion program returned in 2022. This year, the 2023 immersion program will take place on the last week of August beginning August 27th.
The program will bring together 15 young leaders from different industries to the Phil-
they offered me to pursue the long-term BSP engagement (November 2021– November 2024).
Q: What made you decide to go back to the Philippines instead of pursuing a postdoctoral or work abroad?
DCL: I decided to do the BSP short-term engagement because I wanted to return home to the Philippines after six years abroad. I also wanted to do worthwhile things while in the country hence my first BSP stint. I loved the work as a Balik Scientist when I saw how it transformed the people I mentored.
Gradually, they are now able to publish papers in internationally peer-reviewed journals. Together, we pursued research proposals for funding and were granted. Now, they are also mentoring other faculty in the College of Engineering. They are also already seeking research proposals on their own. Being able to bring
ippines where they will meet with businesses, communities and civic leaders in an effort to strengthen the ties between the United States and the Philippines.
“Every year is another opportunity to level up and leave
change, even in small areas in my alma mater, is truly a joy and a blessing.
Q: Are the benefits/advantages that BSP has given you?
DCL: It has given a platform to pursue research advocacies such as upcycling of wastes into valuable products. It also widened my network and enabled me to pursue collaborations. Financially, we were given housing and transportation allowance on the long-term engagement.
Q: What message can you give future scientists/researchers, especially women, who want to pursue higher studies like you or be able to impact the scientific community?
DCL: Being a woman in a scientific community is a privilege and a challenge. It is a privilege because several opportunities are open to women pursuing STEM. On the other hand, it is also a challenge since there is still a stigma that women always do less
‘Aloha for the Youth’ Golf Tournament | Knights of Rizal-Aloha Chapter | March 24, 2023 | Pearl Country Club in Pearl City | Proceeds from the golf tournament fundraiser will benefit the youth programs of the Knights of RizalAloha Chapter, specifically its annual Rizal Youth Leadership Institute. For those interested, please reach out to Jun Suela at (808) 228-0665 or Gino Soqueña at (808) 393-1807.
rect. If there are any errors, call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596.
3. Use the information on your 1095A to file your federal taxes by April 18, 2023.
a lasting impact,” said FYLPRO 2022 President Leezel Tanglao. “We’re looking forward to welcoming another cohort of Filipino leaders ready to grow and serve the community.”
In 2022, the program committee raised the age eligibility limit to 45 years old to account for those who might have aged out during
than men and should always perform more than expected to be noticed or appreciated. But it should not be your gender that will define how you should function as a scientist/researcher. No matter your gender, use whatever God-given skill you have for the betterment of society. No one becomes an expert overnight. It will take time and many mistakes but have patience and faith in God that as long as you do what is right and pursue it wholeheartedly, you’ll notice the impact you can bring to society. Appreciate the small triumphs in your journey to becoming a scientist/researcher. Only some people are given the opportunity to do it.
Dr. Lawagon just recently came back from a short research stay at the University of Bayreuth in Germany as part of the Green Talents Program. The Federal Republic of Germany fully funded the
If you need assistance, the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii is ready to help you with your 1095A forms. Call 808-5364302.
the last two years. The previous age limit was 25 to 40 years old.
Interested applicants must complete the application form, pay a $20 processing fee, answer the essay questions and obtain recommendation letters by April 14, 2023.
For more information on the application process, visit https://fylpro.org/immersion-application/.
research stay as one of the honors given to the selected winners of the 2021 Green Talents Awards where she was among the twenty-five recipients.
She focused her research on upcycling waste through nanotechnology. Her research explored the question of how waste can be converted into valuable products: building materials or devices for generating renewable energy and solving environmental problems.
Dr. Lawagon is an example of an empowered woman who allows her great mind, diligent hands and passionate heart to impact her nation and her generation.
Maria Curie, a famous female scientist once said: “We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted with something and that this thing must be attained.”
May the world be filled with many more great minds like her and Dr. Lawagon.
