Issue 51, May 2022
Sabina Murray Recognizing Filipino politics, social class in her fiction
Vickie Galang Ibanag nurse, Air Force captain Rechelle Balanzat
Building a brand in laundry technology
Letter from the Editor
Can we trust Elon Musk with free speech? “The rich are different from you and me.” “Yes, they have more money.”
T
his exchange was supposed to have taken place between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. It never happened that way. Regardless, this is what came to mind when news broke that Elon Musk, a pioneer in electric cars, was buying Twitter. He’s not paying with his own money but is using shares in Tesla to fund the $44 billion buyout deal, although one can argue the shares are his. Distasteful? Concerning? That’s just for starters. There are more questions on people’s minds. -Will he eliminate moderation of content on the world’s most influential social media platform? -Will hate and misinformation flood its space again? Most of the questions have focused on that part of what is in reality a hostile takeover. -Why will he make the company private? -Is he fronting for bigger powers? Or competing with someone?
Is he fronting for bigger powers? Or competing with someone? Our thoughts drift back to the apocryphal exchange between the two iconic writers. Most of the billionaires we read about have shown behavior that can only be summarized as “narcissistic.” Joy rides in space. Much-younger
girlfriends. Palling around with pedophiles. People may idolize them but that speaks more to the kind of society we have. Most of the superrich think too highly of themselves and worse, feel their wealth makes them superior to
Contributing Writers Tricia J. Capistrano Ludy AstraquilloOngkeko Joel David Mariel Padilla Wendell Gaa Lindy Rosales Maricar CP Hampton Vicky Potenciano-Vitug Angelito Cabigao Danielle Vania Bonus
Founding Editor Cristina DC Pastor Address P.O. Box 8071 New York, NY 10116
Contact Thefilamny@gmail.com
The FilAm is a publication of A&V Editorial THE FILAM
ordinary people. We have seen little of commitment to the public good although these billionaires would insist they have given away much to the cause of climate change, mental health and women entrepreneurship. The supposed quote of them “having too much money” is a backhanded way of identifying what’s wrong with them in the first place. There are, of course, rich people who have done well in the pursuit of the public good. They are low-key in their lifestyle and there is no big scandal attached to their reputations. We’re looking at you, Warren. Musk has wrapped his view of Twitter in the flag of free speech but it’s hard to swallow that he had all of a sudden become its defender. By owning Twitter – with more than 400 million users, including politicians and celebrities -- and making it private it’s like buying a piece of metal and fashioning a gun. A person known to fire employees for criticizing Tesla is now an activist for the First Amendment! He already owns Tesla and Space-X along with two other outfits. Can he give Twitter his time and attention given his other responsibilities? Can he be trusted with a public bullhorn like Twitter?
| 2
Olivia, Bruno put spotlight on FilAms as Grammy-winning musical artists
Olivia Rodrigo
"I
really wanna dedicate this award to my parents," pop singer Olivia Rodrigo said on accepting her Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. She recalled how when she was 9 years old, wanted to be a gymnast even though she could barely do a cartwheel. Her mother thought she was joking. “So the next week when I told her I was going to win a Grammy, she was very supportive even though she probably thought it was just a little kid’s pipe dream. But I want to thank my mom for being supportive of my dreams no matter how crazy. And I want to thank my mom and dad for being equally as proud of me for winning a Grammy as they were when I learned how to do a back walkover." While it may surprise many that Filipino Americans won big in the 64th Grammy Awards, Filipinos were not. Filipinos are a musically gifted people with versatile voices that can hip hop, be-bop or rap. Where before they did covers for name artists, today’s FilAms write their own songs. Olivia is one of five FilAms who lorded it over the Grammys. She won Best New Artist as well as Best Pop Vocal Album for her album “Sour” and Best Pop Solo Performance for her hit song, "Driver's License." Bruno Mars returned to the Grammy stage as Silk Sonic, an R & B duo together with Anderson .Paak. They grabbed two trophies
for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Leave the Door Open." H.E.R. won Best Traditional R&B Performance for her song “Fight for You." She was nominated for a total of eight awards, and you know what they say about ‘…proud just to be nominated.’ Saweetie and Elle King are two FilAms who are just getting started but proudly went home with nominations. Saweetie was nominated Best New Artist, the only female rapper recognized for the category. Singer, songwriter Elle King won a nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for a duet she did with Miranda Lambert, “Drunk (and I Don’t Wanna Go Home).” Elle is the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider.
Saweetie. Grammys photo by Pol Kurucz THE FILAM
| 3
Silk Sonic duo of Bruno Mars (left) and Anderson .Paak
Elle King (right) and Miranda Lambert
H.E.R.
Sheila Coronel: The political is personal
O
By Joel David
ne curious development is that the audiovisual material which most Filipino netizens burred over recently was expectedly streaming, but it’s neither a film nor a TV series. It’s the latest installment of the Writers Union of the Philippines’ Adrian E. Cristobal Lecture Series. Titled “Marcos and Memory: The Past in Our Future,” the material promised topical urgency in the wake of the so-far stillcertain possibility of the Marcos family recapturing the seat of power that their patriarch, Ferdinand Sr., occupied for over two decades and refused to let go until he was expelled by a popular uprising. The Marcos strategy – proffering the only son instead of his smarter sisters – resonates with the Catholicized culture’s belief in a messiah sent by a stern father to point the way to salvation; it also dodges the gender association with the possibly already-daft Imelda, notorious during her heyday for her tackily excessive shopping sprees and hatred of anything that reminded her of how dirt-poor she used to be. This is enhanced by the likelihood that the sisters may be in charge of their father’s plundered billions, with Imee exposed when her grandchildren’s names were listed as beneficiaries in the Pandora Papers leakage in 2021, and side reports of the recent Credit Suisse scandal reminding readers that the Marcos couple were some of the bank’s most infamous confidential depositors. The Marcos campaign has proved particularly divisive for the generation that was able to participate in the anti-dictatorship movement that morphed into an inexorable force when oppositionist-in-exile Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was assassinated upon his return to the country in August 1983. Those who count themselves as keepers of the democratic flame lament that later generations have been miseducated and incapable of the intelligence and strength of character to resist the Marcoses’ brazen attempt to launder their ill-gotten wealth, if not add a few billions more. A number of people who reversed course point to the post-Marcos administrations’ failure in preventing the reassumption of political influence of sectors that Marcos had started to marginalize, specifically the old oligarchy and the church. Most people invested in the issue would have picked one or the other position to uphold; a select few would have rejected both. Sheila Coronel, Toni Stabile Professor of Professional Practice in Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, performed the most unexpected act of deconstruction imaginable, by placing herself in both camps in order to explain why the Marcosist phenomenon is more deeply entrenched than we think, and why in order to confront it, we must begin by confronting
Sheila interviewing Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
With father Antonio Coronel on the day of her high school graduation. He was a well-known lawyer of Ferdinand Marcos. ourselves. “If Marcos has such a hold on our collective imagination, it is in part because of the lies and halftruths he and his courtiers have told over and over again until they were accepted as fact,” Coronel leads off. She then proceeds to recall how her own father, a well-known lawyer, defended individuals accused of acting on behalf of the martial-law administration. “He teased me about my objections to his clients but not to the shoes and dresses his lawyer’s fees bought me.” The level of familiarity with which Coronel spells out her argument paradoxically provides her with an THE FILAM
| 4
authority missing in those of us who profess to stand apart from the loyalty and devotion that the Marcoses inspire. Toward the end of her narrative-driven account, she shared her recurrent nightmare of repeatedly attempting to write but with her pen failing to generate any ink. This is the point where she prescribes a call to action. Accepting the worst qualities that the Marcoses represent as an essential component of the Philippine character could easily result in our quiescence, if not despair. On the contrary, Coronel maintains, “resisting normalization means resisting disempowering narratives.” It would be pointless to continue finding fault with whoever we believe should have been responsible for ensuring that the Marcoses’ record of atrocities and abominations be inscribed in the country’s educational curriculum, but just to make our terms clear (and affirm Coronel’s point): our historians and popular-culture artists have done everything they could to set the record down, even when the Marcos patriarch was still around. Coronel’s text suggests ways in refining, if not redefining, the Marcos narrative, and if the present trend persists, it will soon be time to designate our younger subjects to take charge of fixing the mess that their elders left them in. Joel David is Professor for Cultural Studies at Inha University in Korea and was founding Director of the University of the Philippines Film Institute. He was 2016 FACINE International Film Festival life-achievement awardee for film scholarship and criticism, and last year’s recipient of the Writers Union of the Philippines’s Balagtas Award for the same distinction. He has written several books and articles on Philippine cinema, all of which are available for free on his blog at https://amauteurish.com.
An Ibanag nurse, an Air Force captain, a dreamer By Vicky Vitug
There was a time in Visitacion ‘Vickie’ Tubbali Arirao’s professional life that she was saving people’s lives on two fronts: As a civilian nurse and as a member of the armed forces. This was in late 1980s when she, a certified nurse anesthetist, joined the U.S. Air Force.
“J
oining the Air Force was one tough job,” she said of that time she was juggling two formidable careers. Training was arduous, the environment was unique, and expectations were heavy. Yet, she will always remember those years as “the most rewarding aspect of my career.” Visitation Tubbali Arirao from Cagayan province has always dreamed of coming to the U.S. and working here as a nurse. She was an almost fanatic believer in the romanticized portrayal of America as the “land of milk and honey.” So, when she was sponsored for employment by Jamaica Hospital Center of Queens in 1971, she considered herself a “lucky one.” She migrated to the U.S. and worked at Jamaica Hospital as a registered nurse. Her rise was quick and spectacular. The following year, she transferred to Bellevue Hospital Medical Center to work as an Operating Room Head Nurse. At Bellevue, her world only got bigger. She followed a pack of her peers who took the entrance exam at Harlem Hospital School of Anesthesia for Nurses. She completed three years of rigorous study and became a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Becoming a CRNA ignited in her a desire to keep moving up the ladder and – like a true Ibanag -- she accepted every opportunity to grow. The Ibanags of Northern Luzon are known to be a persevering and strong-willed people, a hardy community of farmers and fishermen. She said her A U.S. Air Force captain in late 1980s. most treasured title is being the devoted daughter of her parents Hermogenes Ferrer Arirao and Flor- was on active duty as a nurse anesthetist at Clark encia Sinnung Tubbali. She has deep appreciation Airbase, Philippines (1989-1991), she was subsefor her Ibanag roots. quently transferred to the David Grant Medical She joined the Harlem Hospital Center in 1981 as Center, Travis Air Force base in Fairfield, Calistaff anesthetist and clinical instructor, and was fornia (1991-1992), and McGuire Air Force Base in promoted to associate director/ clinical professor New Jersey (1993-1997). She was a member of the till 2000. service corps for almost eight years. “I did not stop until I reached what I am now, Now semi-retired, she is currently working as a an APCRNA, or an Advance Practice Certified per diem certified nurse anesthetist for a private Registered Nurse in Anesthesiology,” she said in an medical group in New York. Currently, she is presinterview with The FilAm. ident-elect of the Philippine Nurses Association As Air Force Captain Visitation Tubbali Arirao, of New Jersey Bergen Passaic chapter, giving back she served with dedication and commitment. She through community service.
THE FILAM
| 5
Vickie Arirao Galang is president-elect of the Philippine Nurses Association of New Jersey Bergen Passaic chapter. “We are actively involved in community affairs such as health fairs, veterans’ fundraising, COVID19 antibody testing, food donation campaigns,” she said. “We are active in sharing the Filipino history, cultural heritage and spreading the bayanihan spirit.” She has joined medical-surgical missions to the Philippines at least twice a year and has made donations to the “less privileged.” She has written checks for parishes, barangay elementary schools, chapels, social halls, computer schools, and rural hospitals in her hometown in Pamplona. Captain Visitation Tubbali Arirao, MSN, RN, CRNA, APN, DM - will always remember the day she came to the U.S. in the 1970s. She had nothing in her but stubborn perseverance and a dream that one day life would be better. Today, life is beyond anything she had ever imagined. Vickie’s full name is Visitacion Tubbali AriraoGalang. She married Julius Galang only in the last 10 years.
Good night, Mr. Almeda Celestino Gonzales Almeda passed away peacefully on March 27 surrounded by his family in Rockville, Maryland. He was 104.
H
e was the first recipient of the Filipino WWII Veterans’ U.S. Congressional Gold Medal presented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in a historic ceremony in October 2017 under the Capitol dome. “It was my honor to be his constant companion when tirelessly lobbying in the Congress and in the White House for his comrades’ official U.S. military recognition and veterans equity benefits bills,” said Eric Lachica, a long-time advocate for Filipino veterans and a friend of Almeda. His son Roberto Almeda announced: “I was in tears when I heard the good news that my father’s wish to be buried in a national cemetery will be fulfilled. The entire Almeda family will be forever grateful.” He will be interred at Quantico National Cemetery on 18424 Joplin Rd, Triangle, VA. Quantico is a national cemetery in Virginia for veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and service members. It is under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Almeda, born on June 8, 1917 in the Philippines was a Filipino American WWII veteran who fought the Japanese during their occupation of the Philippines in 1941. He retired as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Recognized guerrilla forces of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) commanded by General Douglas MacArthur. His story began in 1936, according to Vantage Point blog, “when the President of the Philippines Manuel Quezon coordinated with U.S. General Douglas MacArthur to create a Philippine Army. Being 18 years old, Almeda was conscripted. He managed to obtain an exemption from training camp by enrolling in a two-year graduate study and teacher’s curriculum in the arts and training course, alongside a Reserve
‘The embodiment of patriotism and duty to country.’
Celestino Almeda as a young USAFFE officer.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi gives Almeda a hug after he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2017. Getty Images Officers’ Training Corps program. After he completed the program, he worked as a teacher in Manila at Arellano High School. He taught in Manila until the Japanese invasion. “In 1990, Almeda applied for U.S. THE FILAM
naturalization using his military records as supporting documents. The Immigration Service tried to verify his service through the National Personnel Records Center but could not find his name. This forced Almeda to hire an | 7
immigration lawyer and take his case to immigration court. He was finally sworn in as an American in 1996.” He has since become the face of Filipino veterans who fought the U.S. government for long overdue benefits attending almost every rally and congressional hearings. He has photographs with congressional leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Says General Antonio Taguba, “He is the embodiment of patriotism and duty to country. He survived the battles in WWII. He and his fellow veterans want to be remembered simply for the honor and privilege to serve for their duty to country.” Almeda lived with his family in Gaithersburg, MD and is survived by his daughter, Evelyn Campbell, and his sons, Roberto Almeda and Reynaldo Almeda, grandchildren and great grandchildren. His favorite quote is from General Douglas MacArthur, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away”. A visitation was held at DeVol Funeral Home on 10 East Deer Park Drive, Gaithersburg, MD on March 30.
COVER STORY
Juliette CEO Rechelle Balanzat: ‘I am building a brand’ By Cristina DC Pastor
It’s been a turbulent two years for many businesses, not the least the laundry and dry clean industry.
tional cleaners in New York City and a couple of up-and-coming rivals similarly specializing in cutting-edge technology. Mark Ruffalo and the Hadid sisters are among Juliette’s celebrity clients.
J
uliette, a boutique wash-andfold business in Manhattan, lost one of its drop-off locations and furloughed 75 percent of its staff. “That’s the hardest part,” said founder and CEO Rechelle Balanzat. The business hit a slow stretch with COVID-19 forcing people to stay home. Nobody was dressing up for dinners and men weren’t wearing suits to Zoom meetings. It felt like 2014 all over again when Rechelle founded Juliette unsure of where it would lead to or what would become of it. Now, almost three years into the pandemic, Juliette is seeing the bounce back. The company has increased the number of drop-off points from two to five across the city. People are starting to go out to cocktail parties, family reunions and cruises and they are dressing up like never before. What’s different about eight years later is how technology has taken hold of the company. Although business has crawled since 2020, Juliette continued to remain in the public consciousness through app, text, phone, and Instagram. “We opened lines of communication with all clients telling them we’re still here, we’re still operating,” she said. “We offered them so many ways to request a pick-up.” Before the pandemic, pick-up time was from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Delivery time was 24 hours later. With COVID, delivery time now takes 2 to 3 days. It didn’t matter much. Pick-up and delivery grew the business. While traditional brick-
||CEO before 30
‘I am an artist first and foremost. A thinker, entrepreneur, innovator, inventor, futurist.’ and-mortar laundromats depended on foot traffic, Juliette was working in the late hours when the shops had closed for the day. A typical volume in one location would be 400-700 pieces of dry clean items a day and 40-60 bags of washand-fold laundry items. That number went down at the start of the pandemic, but is now steadily recovering. “The industry was really hurting and is still grappling. Right now, we’re all trying to get back to where we were. Everyone is still in survival mode,” Rechelle said in an interview with The FilAm. Juliette’s forte is its quick turnaround. It was the reason Rechelle got into the business in the first place. One day, while waiting for her food to be delivered, she wondered, “Where is the app to pick up laundry?” THE FILAM
||No clear leader
Rechelle is trying to elbow her way into a $20 billion industry, where, she maintains there is no clear leader. She said, “The laundry and dry clean industry has been operating in the same manner for decades. You go to the cleaners then you pick up your clothes. Juliette tapped into the huge opportunity to bring technology and automation into that process at the same time creating a transparent experience for clients.” With technology being scalable, there is a real opportunity to become a category leader, she added. Rechelle has already gotten ahead. “I’m the only female in the digital laundry technology business,” she declared. Juliette, she said, has cornered a segment of the industry – she’s mum about the size for now -- despite the abundance of tradi| 8
A CEO before she even turned 30, the Manila-born Rechelle came to the U.S. when she was 3 years old. “My first language was Tagalog,” she said. “I was forced to learn English when I went to Catholic schools.” Hers was a typical Filipino immigrant upbringing. “My mom worked four jobs but made sure I went to Catholic schools.” From St. Vincent de Paul in Bayonne for her elementary education to the Jesuit-run Fordham in Manhattan where she graduated with honors in philosophy. She told the rest of her story with candor, with no hint of self-consciousness. There was no real role model for business in her family, she shared. She was born to teenage parents who were about 16 or 17 years old when they married in the Philippines. They divorced when she was 7. Rechelle grew up with her mom who laid down the basics of what it meant to stay in business: learning to balance the checkbook, valuing the dollar and knowing the meaning of sacrifice. “What I learned from her I practice to this day.”
||Filipino connection
It came as no surprise that when she founded Juliette in 2014, her mother was among her first investors. Her grandfather and a younger cousin had also offered to bankroll from their savings. Borrowing from relatives has allowed Juliette to take off. From there, it’s been Rechelle all the way. She tapped into her background in finance, advertising
and technology to find investors, raise funds, access fellowships from Goldman Sachs and Tory Burch, or good old fashion hustling from old contacts. One of her early clients were Filipino house managers who worked for powerful New York families from neighboring Fifth Avenue and the West Village. “They would call us, can you please handle the dry clean for this location. And we would pick them up from the front desk or their doormen, and deliver the following day,” she said. She was proud of that community connection because she yearned, as a Filipino entrepreneur, to be of service as well as to inspire.
||Scarcity and abundance
Looking back at how Juliette has grown has allowed her to also reflect on her own journey as a self-reliant business person. There is this threshold from “scarcity” to “abundance” she felt immigrants must have to cross.
Rechelle is the only female in the digital laundry technology business.
THE FILAM
| 9
When her family came to the U.S., theirs was the typical story of immigrants trying to survive in a foreign land. “Everything was about fear and intimidation and dreams being limited. That was scarcity.” “Now, I am an entrepreneur with the mindset of I am an American and I belong here where there is abundance and opportunity,” she said. She wanted more Filipino entrepreneurs to pursue their passions and for their dreams not to be limited by “fear and intimidation.” Sometimes the transition from scarcity to abundance can be difficult. Being a woman comes with its own set of cultural expectations, making work-life balance almost unattainable. “Filipinos are very family oriented and there’s a lot of questions like are you going to have kids? When you’re dedicating 10-12 hours of your day to career, it is difficult to spend time in other areas of your life especially your personal life.”
Calendar EVENTS
||May 14
of Events
||July 2 to 3
RJP Sports Festival Sportika New Jersey 150 Woodward Road Manalapan Township, N.J.
Nina U.S. Tour 2022 Margaret Williams Theater at New Jersey City University 2039 John F. Kennedy Boulevard Jersey City For tickets: Popsie 908-906-9788
||July 7 to 10
43rd PNAA National Convention New York Marriott Marquis For details contact: Philippine Nurses Association of America
||May 14
Live Pilipino Music sa Hard Rock Boston with Angel Ram A tribute concert to Wally Gonzalez of the Juan dela Cruz Band
||August 4 to 7
14th NaFFAA National Empowerment Conference Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel Nevada
||May 21 ||May14
Flores de Mayo by Cebu Sinulog Group St. Vincent de Paul Church 979 Avenue C Bayonne, N.J. Call Rachel Pallones 917-312-1922
||May 20
Reminiscin’ with Joey G & Jinky Vidal Astoria World Manor 25-22 Astoria Blvd., Astoria N.Y. For tickets and sponsorship: Mel & Ogie Mendoza 917-613-4139
Pafcom Grand Marshal Gala and Coronation Ball Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott 1 Hotel Road Newark, N.J.
||August 11 to 13
||May 28
12th Annual TOFA Awards: Celebrating the Global Filipino The Town Hall Times Square NYC
Casino Bus Trip by Knights of Rizal N.J. Chapter Assemble at 186 Culver Avenue Jersey City Contact for details: Rolly Javier 201-600-0651
||May 29
44th Santacruzan & Flores de Mayo St. Mary’s Parish 254 2nd Street Jersey City, N.J.
||June 11
FANHS National Conference Seattle University
||September 16
||July 9
Hitmakers with Marco Sison, Hajji Alejandro, Rey Valera, Nonoy Zuniga and Pops Fernandez Bally’s Casino N.J. For inquiries call Amore at 562-832-4959
||July 16
Picnic in the Park by the FAACNJ Princeton Country Club 1 Wheeler Way Princeton, N.J. RSVP by May 21
Piolo Pascual & Sam Milby in Heartthrobs Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center 4915 E. Campus Dr. Alexandria, VA
||June 19
||July 17
Breaking Barriers Tour 2022 with Kitchie Nadal, Aia de Leon & Acel Bisa Van Ommen Hard Rock Boston 22-24 Clinton Street Boston, MA
THE FILAM
Fashion Culture & Cause Leonard’s Palazzo 555 Northern Boulevard Great Neck N.Y. Contact event chair Joyce Aligarbes: 646-515-2611
| 12
BOOKS
‘Storm Across my Cherished Bamboo Bridge’ A novel by Gene del Carmen To order, contact: genepdelcarmen@icloud.com
How close are we to a USS Telesforo Trinidad? A sustained campaign to name a U.S. Navy warship after Filipino sailor Telesforo Trinidad has the support of Filipino American organizations and mostly Democrat congressional leaders.
C
alifornia Rep. Sara Jacobs, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is leading the effort in the House. Jacobs said Fireman Second Class Telesforo Trinidad was a hero and a history-maker. “A USS Trinidad would send a powerful message, commemorating his story and the long history of Filipino and Asian American service… It will highlight the Navy’s commitment to inclusion and diversity and will also honor the tens of thousands of Filipinos who have served in the Navy since 1901.” The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) said Trinidad holds the distinction of being the first Filipino and the only Asian American in the U.S. Navy to receive a Medal of Honor. In a letter to President Biden, NaFFAA National Chair Brendan Flores said more than 90 members of Congress support the effort. “On behalf of Filipino Americans, we respectfully request your Administration’s support to name the first U.S. Navy Warship… after Telesforo Trinidad,” writes Flores. Flores’ letter reads: “The U.S. and the Philippines have maintained uninterrupted economic, cultural and military ties since 1901, when President William McKinley signed an executive order allowing the recruitment of 500 Filipinos in the U.S. Navy as part of the Insular Force. Tens of thousands of Filipinos enlisted in the U.S. Navy between WWI and WWII. After the Philippines obtained its independence from the United States in 1946, over 35,000 Filipinos were recruited into the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1992 under a provision of the Republic of the Philippines-United States Military Bases Agreement. In addition, thousands of Americans of Filipino descent enlisted during this same 40-year period and continue to do so until today. “The naming of a United States Navy combatant ship after Trinidad will resonate strongly not only to several generations of Filipino Americans who have served in the U.S. Navy since 1901 but also to more than four million Filipino Americans who are looking for validation of the seminal contribu-
Rep. Sara Jacobs; NaFFAA National Chair Brendan Flores
Trinidad is the first Filipino and the only Asian American in the U.S. Navy to receive a Medal of Honor. tions of Filipinos to U.S. history. It will recognize as well the shared history and values of two allies, forged in war and peace." Trinidad was born on November 25, 1890 in New Washington, Aklan province in Western Visayas. THE FILAM
| 14
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy after the United States took possession of the Philippines in the wake of the Spanish-American War. The U.S. Navy Memorial recounts how Trinidad saved the lives of two sailors when their ship exploded. In recognition of his bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor by the U.S. Navy in 1915. “He was aboard the armored cruiser USS San Diego which was steaming in the Gulf of California as part of the naval patrol established to protect U.S. interests and citizens in Mexico. The captain of San Diego decided to conduct a four-hour full-speed and endurance trial to determine if the cruiser could still maintain its officially rated flank speed. At the end of the trials an obstructed tube of one of the ship's boilers gave way, creating an eventual chain reaction of other boilers. The first explosion in the No. 2 boiler vented live steam into the fireroom and forced Trinidad from the fireroom as Ensign Robert W. Cary was closing the door. Trinidad then realized that his crewmate, Fireman Second Class R. W. Daly, was still inside. Risking his own life Trinidad re-entered the steam and smoke-filled fireroom and carried Daly out to safety while Ensign Cary held the door open. As Trinidad carried Daly through the No. 4 fireroom, an explosion of the No. 3 boiler hit Trinidad, burning him in the face. After passing Daly to safety and in spite of his own injury, Trinidad then assisted in rescuing another injured crewman from the No. 3 fireroom.” Trinidad died at the age of 77 on May 8, 1968. He was laid to rest at Imus Public Cemetery, Cavite.
VICTOR G. SISON ATTORNEY-AT-LAW • MEMBER of NEW JERSEY BAR • REAL ESTATE • FAMILY LAW • IMMIGRATION • • BANKRUPTCY • LANDLORD/TENANT • LAST WILL & TESTAMENT • • ESTATE PLANNING • MUNICIPAL COURT CASES •
Victor G. Sison, ESQ.
Municipal Court Judge of Jersey City (2003-2007) Rutgers Law School – Newark, NJ – Juris Doctor (1992) Pontifical University of St. Thomas – Rome, Italy – STD Magna Cum Laude (1972) Pontifical Biblical Institute – Rome, Italy – SSL (1969) Pontifical Gregorian University – Rome, Italy – STL (1967)
479 West Side Avenue Jersey City, NJ 0730r
NEW JERSEY OFFICES Tel: (201) 798-8866 281 Brook Avenue Facsimile: (201) 798-8170 North Plainfield, NJ 07060 Email: vgslaw@gmail.com
Ninotchka Rosca’s ‘State of War:’ Political corruption of the present echoing the past By Allen Gaborro
As the 2022 Philippine presidential elections approach this summer, the specter of the return of the Marcoses to the apex of political power is rearing its head. It is for this reason that Ninotchka Rosca’s classically incendiary novel, “State of War,” holds as much social, cultural, and political currency today as it did when it was first published in 1988.
C
omposed in the wake of the 1986 People Power revolt that overthrew the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, “State of War” is sharp in tone and penetrating in mood and content. It was written as a reminder to Filipinos of the moral darkness engendered by the excesses of Marcos’s martial law regime, the crippling effects of which are still with Filipinos today. The novel’s redolent aura is interwoven with themes of political subjugation, corruption, and violence in the Philippines. The Marcoses are never directly mentioned in “State of War,” but it is clear who Rosca is alluding to in her narrative when she refers to the “Commander” and his “clan.” “State of War” can be a dense and deviating text at times, but it retains a steady symmetry by utilizing the concept of a festival as an intensely personal and social allegory. Rosca illustrates the festival---which is based on the annual Ati-Atihan celebration that commemorates pagan and Christian traditions---with a convivial familiarity but more significantly, with an iconoclastic spirit, and a murderous intent. Three of the festival’s participants form the young trio of dissonant characters whose fortunes ebb and flow as the story moves on. There is Adrian Banyaga, heir to the Banyaga landed elite. Then there is the subversive Anna Villaverde, a trauma victim of military terror. Rosca describes her as “among the powerless of powerless.” Finally, there is the situationally ethical of the three, Eliza Hansen. She devotes herself to romantically pairing Adrian and Anna. At the same time, Eliza serves at the pleasure of the highly-placed Colonel Batoyan and the zealous Colonel Amor as paramour to both. Rosca fixes the drama of “State of War” in a wider historical lens. Centuries of Spanish and
in José Rizal’s “Noli Me Tángere,” Rosca trains the reader’s attention on what might be described as a Spanish friar’s rape-with-consent of a 14-year girl: “[She] knew enough not to resist the priest...She yielded her virginity on a bed of pebbles and curled arms and legs tightly about the pain of the unholy entrance.” Rosca’s female characters are a distinctive aspect of “State of War.” From Anna Villaverde to Eliza Hansen to the subsequent grand dame of the story, Maya, the women in the novel have something in common other than complicated matters of the heart. Rosca acknowledges the pivotal role of her female personages as she takes the conception of an independent, coequal, emancipated Filipina woman to another level. In a passage in which she pays homage to the exploited and oppressed Filipinas of history, Rosca elevates them in a precolonial, babaylanic, animistic image of respect and authority: “...the voices of other women who spoke of a time when the world was young...when women walked these seven thousand one hundred Feminist writer Ninotchka Rosca. islands with a power The book pays homage to the in them...for women ‘exploited and oppressed Filipinas then were in commuof history.’ Facebook photo nion with the gods, praying to the river, the forest spirits, the then American imperial ancient stones...They rule stunted and distorted walked with wisdom.” the idea of an autonomous With a symbiotiFilipino national identity. cally omnipresent A tragic consequence of air of portent and that colonial experience solemnity, to say has been a trail of blood and nothing of an indebttears. Rosca writes: edness to Mikhail “The americanos dealt Bakhtin’s idea of with the [Philippine] the carnivalesque, insurrection with great Rosca reinscribes efficiency, torching villages in “State of War” a… and shoving two hundred Philippines that once fifty thousand corpses into was. As a result, there mile-long graves, both men is a looming question and women.” issuing forth from her Rosca does not spare the work: are Filipinos Spanish in portraying an condemned to repeat instance of their imperial their mistakes or immorality against the are they prepared to indigenous populace, restore the foreclosed especially against the possibilities of their native women. In a scene nation? suggestive of Padre Dámaso Rosca’s first novel: Incendiary THE FILAM
| 16
Filipinos will recognize family, politics, ’ social class in Sabina Murray’s fiction By Tricia J. Capistrano
My FilAm writer radar did not immediately spot Sabina Murray. I think it's because, in the last decade her novels have been about Caucasians. “A Carnivore's Inquiry,” published in 2007, is cleaners and call center workers heading to the about Katherine, a young white woman in her 20s office, people who worked on American time." who wanders from city to city in Europe and then In Ting's daily activities, going to the shopping the United States, trailed by death. mall, library, seeing friends, Murray displays “Tales of a New World,” 2011, is a collection of ficManila's stratifications, rich and poor, intellectuals tional stories about explorers Ferdinand Magellan, and businessmen, the pro and anti-Duterte, even Mary Kingsley, and Captain Zimri Coffin who was FilAms who grew up in the Philippines versus the captain of the ship in the novel “Moby Dick.” FilAms who grew up in the U.S. To prepare for this review, I read the novels "I knew who Laird was, a recently awakened above as well as “Valiant Gentlemen,” published in Fil-Am, the type I encountered at various literary 2016. And even if the latter is about old white men, functions. They like microphones and Spam... In the (in 2017, I made a vow to read only books by Asians States, we were all seen as being of the same tribe, and Asian Americans), it is my favorite of the but it was, at times, a flawed taxonomy.” three. It's both a profound and expansive historical In the novel, Ting spends most of her time with novel about the friendship of Irish patriot Roger old friends and family, she even connects with an old Casement and his closest friend Herbert Ward. beau. Laird, also a writer, is a new in-law who Ting A friend who works in the publishing industry told meets during the trip. me about "The Human Zoo," Murray's latest novel. Like Murray, the novel's main character, Ting Klein, is half Filipino and half American. Murray’s mother is from Manila and her father is from Boston. Ting travels to Manila to decamp from her marriage in New York. She tells friends and family in Manila that she is back home to write a book about Timicheg, one of the natives of Bontoc who was taken to the U.S. and Europe to be displayed in world fairs. Like Katherine in Murray's 2007 novel, Ting's visit to Manila is shrouded by murder. Over Longganisa and fried eggs, Ting and her Tita Rosa discuss the headlines--the killing of Jee Ick-Joo, the South Korean businessman who was killed in 2016. Procopio Gumboc (a thinly disguised Duterte) is President and the drug war is in full force. The pandemic has not yet happened. "I am so glad you're here, but why now?" Ting's Tita comments. "These are dangerous times." In addition to the prying Tita comments, many Filipino American readers will find Murray's description of Manila and its traffic spot on. "Pedestrians rushed along the underpasses of Edsa. A jeepney stopped abruptly, releasing a number of people. The women had taken off their shoes, which were tucked under their arms, and they stepped cautiously into ankledeep water like socialites closing the final yards to the beach after a day spent yachting." "We were speeding down Edsa with its animated billboards and spiraling exits. There was never a time in this city when everyone slept, Murray’s latest novel: ‘Intrigued by what is difficult.’ and this was the night shift. There were street THE FILAM
| 17
Murray’s mother is from Manila and her father is from Boston. "The novel is a very powerful tool, people tend to remember everything that happens," Murray tells me when I called her to talk about "The Human Zoo” and her writing career. When asked about why she chose to write about the Philippines now, she said “the answer has much to do with Duterte.” She was concerned about the situation in the Philippines. When asked about how she chooses the subjects of her novel, she answers “I am intrigued by what is difficult.” She also points out that she has previously written other novels about Filipinos. “Slow Burn,” published in 1990, is about the life of Isobel, a young woman from Manila's 1%. Murray’s collection of stories, “Caprices,” published in 2007 was about the war in the Pacific Campaign during World War 2. “Caprices” won the PEN/ Faulkner Award for Fiction. The complexities that Murray lays out in “The Human Zoo” -- family, politics, social class, the drug war-- could be a treatise on the current state of the Philippines but Murray's sapient descriptions of Ting’s coasting on her life's curves deliver a very good story. Tricia J. Capistrano’s essays have appeared in The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, TheFilAm.net, and Newsweek. She is the author of “Dingding, Ningning, Singsing and Other Fun Tagalog Words.” Her essay, “Inadequately Asian,” which appeared in this publication, was chosen as the Best Personal Essay by the Philippine American Press Club in 2017.
COVER STORY
PFAY: Young N.J. FilAms carve out their safe space By Cristina DC Pastor
Lauren Lalicon threw herself into PFAY – or the Professional Filipino American Youth — in 2017 without much of a plan or a second thought. The following year, she began working for the office of Tammy Murphy, the First Lady of New Jersey, as a policy director.
T
hen, she got engaged. She was in the midst of planning her wedding, and organizing meet-ups for PFAY when she joined the campaign to re-elect Governor Phil Murphy. Finally, Lauren got married in June 2021 months before the November elections. At her parents’ backyard, she and the groom celebrated at a breezy reception with blankets, cushions and flower petals strewn across the lawn. Looking back at all the large-scale organizing she did while the country was living in fear of a pandemic, those were very good years.
Lauren and husband Jeremiah Pinca
||Born, raised, educated
Lauren was born, raised and educated in Spotswood, N.J., a tiny, blinkand-you-miss-it kind of town an hour away from Manhattan by car. With New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy “Not much diversity. I was one Group (AWTNG) in 2017 before she of 13 Asians in a school of 200 stujoined the governor’s office. dents,” she said. In November 2017, she approached Her father, who hails from Panthree friends to discuss her burning gasinan, came to the U.S. in 1979. Her concept: Maria Mauricio, a childhood mother, who is from Nueva Ecija, folfriend and an accountant; Jonie Planillowed five years later when her dad was lo-Pachay, co-founder of UniPro and an nicely settled in. They were childhood accountant and sales representative; sweethearts who met in grade school! and Caitlin Torres, software engineer The yearning to become part of an and mentorship coordinator in UniAsian American and FilAm community Pro. Shortly after the first meeting, ran deep, especially when Lauren became involved in Jersey politics. She two more enthused FilAms came on said, “I craved community. I didn’t look board: Erlinda Delacruz, a consultant like many of my colleagues and I desper- for a nonprofit focused on suicide ately wanted to feel like I belonged.” prevention; and Roman Damaso, a PFAY co-founders, from left: Lauren, Maria Mauricio, Jonie Planillo-Pachay, and She co-founded the networking group management consultant. Together, Caitlin Torres Asian Women of Trenton Networking they brainstormed ideas, knowledge, THE FILAM
| 18
fears, questions until PFAY became more defined as an organization that is “intentionally casual” and New Jersey-based. PFAY is the latest organization looking to engage young FilAms by creating a safe space where they can “support and empower” each other. While it appears, outwardly, to resemble the structure of other organizations – like UniPro or FYLPRO before it -- it is not quite the same, said Lauren. “PFAY’s uniqueness lies in our focus in developing a community for FilAms who are underrepresented in various industries,” she said. “Many members of PFAY work in industries where we are the minority – from accounting to design to government for example.” “Understanding that our membership is made up of busy young professionals who are in the midst of building out their careers, we design our events so that it’s easy for our members to drop in whenever they’re available,” she continued. Now counting 30 members, PFAY
“grew exponentially” during the pandemic, she said. “Bound at home, everyone seemed to crave community anywhere we could get it.” Lauren is proud of the members who have achieved career success at a young age. There is Karlito Almeda, chief of staff for the first Korean American politician elected to New Jersey’s State Legislature; Jed Empleo is the only AAPI graphic designer with the New York Giants; and Caitlin Torres, one of PFAY’s co-founders, is a software engineer with Blue Origin, an aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos. “Our members are very impressive,” she said. “We recognize that the strongest connections are genuine friendships, so we create safe spaces where we can support and empower our members, socially and professionally,” she said. That, in essence, is how PFAY is looking to build a community. The Professional Filipino American Youth -- pfay.org -- is on Facebook and Instagram as @profilamyouth.
PFAY’s first summer potluck
Trans FilAm with autism killed by her father A transgender Filipina American from Georgia was shot dead in her home by her father who later turned the gun on himself, according to law enforcement.
K
athryn Newhouse has been described in the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents website as “a 19-year-old Asian-American autistic trans woman living with mental illness issues.” Reports identified the father as Howard Newhouse, 57. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting further that the mother was home when the incident, where both father and daughter ended up dead, happened on March 19. She was a Northbrook, Illinois native until the family moved to Georgia in 2020. According to PLC, “Kathryn was a Minecraft and UberSpire enthusiast, an advocate for trans rights, had a bright smile, enjoyed changing up her hair styles, and attentive to world events. She enjoyed hiking and sightseeing. She was proud of her AAPI heritage; she was of Filipino heritage. She believed in the credo: Model best behavior in your own sphere, break down stereotypes, and speak out.”
She was proud of her Filipino heritage. Facebook Photo A candlelight vigil was held this week to honor Kathryn, described by a friend as “a real sweetheart.” No member of the family attended the vigil. THE FILAM
| 19
“In no circumstances is a father murdering his own daughter acceptable or understandable or a solution. It is murder,” writes the PLC. Human Rights Watch, citing court records, says Kathryn’s father was previously arrested for assaulting her in 2019 when she was 16. “In 2019, Howard Newhouse was accused of ‘intentionally or without provocation’ causing physical pain and harm to his daughter at their home by ‘holding her down on a bed by her throat.’ Records show the father was arrested by deputies for a misdemeanor charge of simple battery, described as family violence.” Adds HRW: “Newhouse’s death is at least the eighth violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person reported in 2022. “We say ‘at least’ because too often these deaths go unreported — or misreported. In 2021, despite limitations in reporting, HRC officially recorded the largest number of fatal trans violence incidents for a second consecutive year since we began tracking this violence in 2013. “A report by the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Foundation, “An Epidemic of Violence 2021,” found that between 2013 and 2021, approximately two thirds of transgender and gender non-conforming people with known killers had their lives taken by an acquaintance, friend, family member or intimate partner.”
Issue 51, May 2022
Kathryn Newhouse Trans teen silenced by father
Photo by Shabih Aftab
Sheila Coronel
The political is personal
Lauren Lalicon
A safe space for Jersey FilAms