FILAM Sep 2019

Issue 19, September 2019

More stories on the web @ TheFilAm.net

Honoring

those we lost in 9/11 p8

Gun owner

is a devoted family man p3

Eva Noblezada

is a ‘badass’ goddess in ‘Hadestown’ p10

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Letter from the Editor

No freedom for the Monster of Calauan

C

ollege sweethearts Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez were about to head home that ill-fated night of June 28, 1993. The U.P. Los Baños (UPLB) students – seated in front beside the driver -- were waiting for the Toyota Tamaraw to fill up with passengers when a group of armed men swooped down on the jeepney and dragged them out. The 19-year-olds were forcibly thrown in the back of the same vehicle where they were tied up and gagged.

Eileen would later be assaulted by former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, and gang-raped and killed by his goons. Allan would be shot dead too. It was a crime so horrific it shocked the Catholic country to its core.

Fast forward to August 22, 2019, when news erupted that Sanchez was eligible for parole on “good behavior.”

It boggles the mind that this monster would even have a shot at seeing the daylight outside of a prison cell.

Sanchez’s name found its way on a list of about 11,000 prisoners who could benefit from a law increasing

Convicted murderer and rapist, former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez Good Conduct Time Allowance for prisoners on “good behavior.”

He was sentenced to seven years of reclusion perpetua for the rape and murder of Eileen and the murder of Allan. That’s a total of 360 years in jail for the crimes he committed

against the young Agriculture students at UPLB. Sanchez’s henchmen Baldwin Brion, Luis Corcolon, Rogelio Corcolon, George Medialdea, Zoilo Ama, and Pepito Kawit were also sentenced to seven life terms.

Sanchez – in and out of incarcera-

Contributing Writers Tricia J. Capistrano Ludy AstraquilloOngkeko Joel David Mariel Padilla Wendell Gaa Maricar CP Lindy Rosales Hampton Danielle Vania Angelito Cabigao 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 |

tion – has never known goodness nor practiced it. In jail, he was reported to have stashed drugs in his cell and hid them inside an image of the Virgin Mary. Given what he did, by what rationale can he even be considered for "good behavior?"

The anger among Filipinos in and out of the country ripped through social media and forced the government of President Rodrigo Duterte to retreat from the decision to release Sanchez.

Still, there are disturbing questions that need to be answered.

The first is the most obvious. Who slipped Sanchez’s name on the list of prisoners to be released?

Did money change hands? How is he allowed to do drugs behind bars?

What other perks does he enjoy? Who is his protector?

The sad conclusion one can draw from this episode is that the Philippine justice system is so riven by corruption that a monster who figured in "a plot seemingly hatched in hell" (to quote Judge Harriet Demetriou) may get to sniff freedom having served only 24 years.

Filipinos are being vigilant on this case.

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Gun owner is a devoted family man

By Cristina DC Pastor

Let me introduce Art Tadiar (not his real name), hardworking health care employee, devoted family man, proud Filipino American, and unapologetic gun owner.

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rt, a Virginia resident, has something in common with Newtown, Conn. shooter Adam Lanza: a Glock hand gun. But while Lanza used this weapon to kill himself following a December 14, 2012 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Art has used his Glock only for target practice. He keeps the pistol under lock and key by his nightstand drawer. He may own a weapon, but was quick to point out that he is not a member of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA).

“I bought it for about $460,” Art said in a phone interview with The FilAm. “That was 10 years ago.”

Ten years ago was his watershed moment, a period in his life when owning a gun gained a sense of urgency. Art had just moved his family to a middle-class neighborhood in Virginia. He got a new job with a hospital facility and had to relocate. The property he bought was adjacent to a walking trail that leads to a bus stop.

Residents use this path to go to work.

At night, some neighborhood teens would occasionally chill out here and use drugs. Fed up by the noise and threats to his family’s safety, Art called 911 while the teens were “in action.” The officers came and picked up some of the teens, but not all.

Unfortunately for Art, the teens saw the cops talking to him just outside his door.

Virginia resident purchased a Glock pistol for his family’s protection.

From that moment on, Art has seen mysterious cars slow down in front of his house, not threatening him directly but seeming to intimidate him. “Sinisindak lang ako,” he said.

With his wife’s blessing, he made a decision to arm himself. “I need it for protection for my family. We have a young daughter.” He and his wife had a 4-year-old daughter.

At Galyan’s Sporting Goods, the purchase took less than an hour. Art took a written test. On passing, he was asked to produce his driver’s license and car registration.

The store made a quick call to the Virginia State Police for a background check for possible criminal history. “No background check on mental health,” he recalled.

Soon, he was holding on to his permit. He and his wife grinned at one another nervously.

He was asked if he would like to sign up for the NRA, and was provided literature on gun safety THE FILAM |

and responsible ownership. He had the option also not to be a member but would have access to the organization’s shooting ranges across the state for a fee. He chose the latter.

Every month for many years, Art would go the range for target shooting.

Sometimes he would bring his young daughter. The firing noise turned her off, also the fact that she did not see any girls around the range. She lost interest and stopped coming.

Art, too, had lost interest and stopped going to the range in the last three years. But even before that, the drive-by harassment had stopped altogether. His unloaded pistol is safely stored in a case in his nightstand, the bullets in a separate case under the bed. Never close to each other, he stressed. Only his wife knows where to find them.

“Hindi naman ako mayabang. I don’t need to show people that I have a gun,” he said, although in his home state gun ownership is an open topic.

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Virginia is very lenient when it comes to owning guns, said Art echoing what everyone – including former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg — already knows about the state and its coital relationship with the Constitution’s Second Amendment: the right to keep and bear arms. Bloomberg was quite vocal about his exasperation over the proliferation of loose firearms in Virginia that eventually find their way to criminal elements in New York. The NRA is headquartered in Fairfax. Deeper into history, James Madison, one of the founding fathers, is considered the father of the Bill of Rights, which includes the Second Amendment. Eighteen years after the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, the Virginia-born Madison became the fourth president of the U.S. “Here in Virginia, you can carry a gun from the shooting range to your home (and back) loaded and exposed even without a permit,” said Art. In other places, an exposed firearm would promptly invite curious looks or questioning by police officers. It is not uncommon for owners to keep their guns inside the dashboard of their cars or under the passenger seat.

Out of the 15 people in Art’s department at work, 10 are gun owners including his manager, who has a collection of about 150 pieces, including high caliber rifles.

“Common talaga dito.”

Art said gun violence is not so much about easy access to firearms but about “people killing people.”

In the absence of a gun, the killer’s weapon could be a baseball bat or a dagger, he argued.

Meantime, Art’s Glock remains hidden, unused for years. Every now and then, he brings it out to clean it with a special solvent. It’s just reassuring to have around, he said. “I know my family will be safe.”

Filipina teen facing deportation finds solace in country music Fifteen years ago, Diane Paragas had the dream of filming the story of a 17-year-old Filipina who grew up in Texas. She loves country music like any Texan teenager does, but because she is an illegal migrant, she encounters all the problems that come with her status especially when her mother is arrested by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

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uring the first 10 years, Diane started to film documentaries for PBS, Discovery Channel, Showtime and other independent outlets. In between, she began to write the script of “Yellow Rose” on and off. The title came from a nickname given to the main character, Rosario Garcia, by her classmates. “Yellow Rose of Texas” was a song popularized by Elvis Presley in the ‘60s.

Diane grew up in the provincial town of Lubbock, Texas. Her parents – internist father and pediatrician mom -- found work at the Lubbock General Hospital through the help of a classmate at medical school in the Philippines. Although Diane and her brother were born in the U.S. while their parents were studying, the family went back to the Philippines to practice medicine.

In 1972, Martial Law changed their lives.

One night while they were having dinner in a restaurant, a group of young people rushed inside trying to evade the soldiers running after them. As the soldiers searched the restaurant, the Paragas family was terrified. Diane was 4 years old, her brother was 2 years old, and their youngest brother was just a baby of 10 months.

When the soldiers left having found none of the activists, her parents breathed a sigh of relief because one of the young men was hiding under their dining table with a revolver in his hand. That made her parents

decide to leave the Philippines because they did not want their children to live under Martial Law conditions.

Where Diane grew up in Lubbock City, they were one of only two Filipino families.

The idea to produce “Yellow Rose” remained an idea until about eight years ago when Diane, together with Cecilia Mejia, the lead producer, received the first funding of $5000, donated to the not-for-profit Asian CineVision as a tax deduction. A lot of the immigration research and fundraising was actually the work of Cecilia, a non-profit professional, who helped raise half a million for the film project.

Then, they were able to sign the Broadway star Eva Noblezada, Tony-nominated for “Miss Saigon” and “Hadestown;” the Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning actress Lea Salonga for “Miss Saigon,” and actress Princess Punzalan, who began on television (“The Story of Us”). For full disclosure, my daughter Leslie Lewis has a short role in the movie as an immigration officer.

It took another five years to raise the rest of the funds which enabled them to shoot for four weeks in Texas and one day in Manila.

At the time of fundraising, Diane heard different suggestions on how to make the movie attractive to film investors. It should not be about country music. Or not in Texas. Or not about immigration. Definitely not about Filipinos living illegally in America. She remained adamant the

‘Yellow Rose‘ director Diane Paragas (left) and lead producer Cecilia Mejia.

Photo by Princess Punzalan

Broadway actress Eva Noblezada plays undocumented student Rosario Garcia. film would be about a Filipino teenager who loved country music but lived without legal papers in Texas.

Already “Yellow Rose” has premiered and won awards in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival; the Bentonville Film Festival co-founded by the actress Geena Davis; the Center for Asian American Media Film Festival; the Asian American International Film Festival. It premiered recently at the Asia Society in New York. The theater was standing room only where I saw

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it with my daughter Leslie and my niece Lora Nicolas Olaes. We laughed and we cried and we swayed with the country music and we were thrilled and scared for the protagonist Rose.

A standing ovation ensued at the end of the film.

Many in the audience were proud that for the first time, a Filipina American director got her idea on film and made an authentic, sympathetic and true-to-life story of an undocumented Filipino American Dreamer.

Banatao, Comerford among

2019 U.P. distinguished alumni

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By Joe Garbanzos

he University of the Philippines Alumni Association in America announced the 2019 Distinguished Alumni and Special Recognition awardees.

The awardees were honored at a Gala during the 20th Grand Reunion at the Crowne Plaza Hotel San Francisco Airport, in Burlingame, California on September 1.

Said Nelsie Parrado, president of UPAAA, “We see them volunteering in communities, working in hospitals, finance, real estate, schools, churches and diverse other workplaces. To these uncelebrated alumni, the association is proud of their contributions and achievements.”

||The honorees Diosdado (Dado) Banatao is an entrepreneur and engineer in the high-tech industry, credited with having developed the first system logic chip and the first Windows Graphics accelerator chip for personal computers. He was conferred an honorary doctorate degree by U.P. in 2000.

Aida Sarmiento is a Practice Manager at Midwest Pediatrics, Ltd., Lombard, Illinois. With her husband, Dr. Rodolfo Sarmiento, she has participated in numerous medical missions in the last 20 years. She earned her graduate degree in Nursing from UP-PGH in 1967.

Olive Rocha-Aliga is the President of the University of the Philippines Vanguard Corps of Sponsors Alumni International (UPVCSAI). She has provided strong leadership to UPVCSAI from its conception in 2004 to the present. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from U.P. in 1973.

Dr. Juanita Caccam developed a laboratory screening method for neonatal hypothyroidism at the San Diego Institute of Pathology and Mass Diagnostic Laboratory. She earned her B.S. Chemistry from U.P. in 1956.

Cristeta Comerford is one of the longest-serving White House executive chefs. She is the first female and the first Asian American appointed to this position. She attended classes towards a B.S. degree on Food Technology at the U.P. College of Home Economics.

Polly Santiago-Cortez is the ViceChair of the Friends of U.P. Foundation of America. She retired in September 2015 after over 38 years as a Federal Banking Regulator at the U.S. Department of Treasury. She earned her B.S. in Business Administration from U.P. in 1966.

Dr. Benito de Lumen is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at University of California, Berkeley.

He is Founder and CEO of Narra Biosciences, a biotech company commercializing the anti-cancer peptide “lunasin.” He earned his B.S. in Agricultural Chemistry from U.P. Los Banos in 1962.

Dr. Wilfrido Feliciano, a plastic surgeon, was an Assistant Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at St. Louis University, Missouri from 1989 to 2005. He earned from U.P. his BS Pre-Med degree in 1961 and his MD degree in 1966.

Dr. Roy Guinto is a thoracic surgeon who has volunteered 12 times in rendering surgical missions in underserved towns in the Philippines. He earned from U.P. his BS Pre-Med degree in 1966 and his MD degree in 1972.

Dr. Dennis Labayen started as a Field Director in the Philippines for Outreach International from 1981 to 1994 and became its Chief Field Officer from 2012 to 2018. He earned from U.P. his BS Pre-Med degree in 1968 and his MD degree in 1972.

Atty. Teodoro Laguatan heads a law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area which does complex litigation not only in immigration law but also other areas including human rights. He earned his BA in Public Administration from U.P. in 1968 and his law degree.

THE FILAM |

Engineer and technology entrepreneur Diosdado Banatao

White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford

Ms. Venus Veronica Leighton is the founder, creator, publisher, editor and manager of the longest-running monthly Filipino American publication (Via Times News magazine) and the executive producer of a sister broadcast outfit (Chicago Philippine Reports TV).

She earned her B.S. in Foreign Service degree from U.P. in 1961.

Dr. Emmanuel Cris Liban is the Executive Officer, Environmental Compliance and Sustainability in Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in Los Angeles, CA. He earned his BS Geology degree magna cum laude from U.P. in 1989.

Dr. Edward Mader is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Louisiana School of Medicine in New Orleans. He is currently the Program Director for the Clinical Neurophysiology training and Co-Director of the EEG and Epilepsy Monitoring Unit of the University Medical Center. He earned from U.P. his B.S. Biology degree in 1983 and his MD degree in 1987.

Dr. Luisito Pablo is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at University of Florida. He earned his DVM cum laude from U.P in 1978.

Dr. Cirilo Reyes is the Production

Veterinarian at Seaboard Foods. He is an Advisor to the Board of Directors, Southwest Kansas Filipino-American Association. He earned his DVM degree from U.P. in 1981.

Dr. Mary Jacquiline Romero is a quantum physicist in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems at the University of Queensland, Australia. She earned her BS Applied Physics degree from U.P. in 2006.

Dr. Constancia Uy was Emerita Professor of Pediatrics at the Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School. She has demonstrated her leadership by being elected President of eight organizations including UPAAA, UP Medical Alumni Society in America (UPMASA), and UPMASA- NJ/NY/CT Chapter (Founding President). She earned from U.P. her BS Pre-Med degree in 1964 and her MD degree in 1967.

Dr. Josefino Tunac is the President and Chairman of Arterez, LLC, a biotechnology group. He earned his BS Plant Pathology degree from U.P. in 1964.

Dr. Winston Umali is the Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at CarePoint Health – Christ Hospital in Jersey City. He earned from U.P. his BS Psychology degree cum laude in 1988 and his MD degree in 1994.

5

The day my daughter

thought she was going to die

By Cristina DC Pastor

Every time 9/11 comes around, I am reminded of a day of confusion, a day of too much walking, a day my daughter looked up to me as a source of strength, calm and clarity.

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hen it became clear that the planes hitting the Twin Towers was not due to pilot error, I immediately snatched my purse and declared to my co-workers, I have to go pick up my daughter in school.

I walked more than two dozen blocks to get to the Immaculate Conception School on 14th Street.

Outside were frantic parents picking up their children, and hugging them when they came out of the gate. ‘Veana Pastor,’ I told a school teacher. Within minutes, my daughter half-walked half-skipped toward me, and we hugged.

“You ok, anak?” She nodded, expressionless.

“My teacher said there’s a plane crash.”

“I think there were people who died.” There I said it; I did not sugarcoat Death.

We walked back to my office on 21st Street. We walked hand in hand.

I would glance at her by my side and could see how she looked at the unfolding scenes of chaos and panic around us. She heard sobs around her and frenzied wailing from a bewildered Manhattan woman.

She saw bodies covered in ash and dried-up blood being loaded into a medical van. She saw people in business suits running up and down the streets. She saw people huddled where there was a radio, listening to the latest news. I kissed the top of her head, my baby only 12 and witnessing for the first time the horrifying aftermath of an act of war.

I tried to explain even though I myself did not have a clear idea of what was going on.

“A plane crashed into the World Trade Center, anak. Also in D.C. Some people died. Our government thought they might be related, they’re still investigating.”

“Where’s dad?”

“Phones are dead so we will have to go walk to his office…You hungry?” She nodded.

We ducked into a tiny café where I would sometimes take my lunch.

It was empty and dim, no office employees with trays lining up to pay. Just me and my daughter with our paltry plates eating in silence.

We returned to my office, a magazine publishing house, to find all my co-workers had gone home. I turned on the computer so she could entertain herself with some games. I began to dial my husband’s number.

Still no connection. Back at the table where I left her, I saw my daughter drawing two towers on a piece of paper.

There was a loud knock on the door. It was the building super.

“You still here? We asked all employees to leave the building because we’re going to close it!” We left in a rush, my daughter and I, with no time to even power off the computer.

We were back again on the street of chaos, more people crying and asking why New York is being punished. We were determined to go to Times Square where my husband’s office was. I mapped the direction in my head, trying to find a quieter

THE FILAM |

A visit to the World Trade Center when Veana was 8 years old. Photo by Rene Pastor route. There’s no escaping the confusion of the day.

“Mom,” my daughter said. “My shoes hurt.”

Of course they did. We bought her a new pair for the start of school. I said she could remove them, we have a long way to go. I said to watch out for shards of glass on the ground.

She walked all the way to 42nd with only her socks on. For the first time that morning, we had a little giggle.

Reunited with my husband, we all

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hugged tightly, with my daughter saying “Don’t worry mom, dad, even if we die at least we all die together.”

I will never forget how death made an imprint on my daughter’s consciousness on 9/11.

My daughter now lives in Philly with her family. She always calls me around this time to ask how I am. I always tease her about her infamous words which she now claims with a hint of playfulness she does not remember.

“Did I really say that?”

Celebrating the lives

lost in 9/11

By Cristina DC Pastor

Nenita Grijalvo walked up the stage and began to wipe a tear even before she could utter a word.

“9/11 is the day that changed our lives forever,” began the widow of Ramon Grijalvo, the devoted Ilonggo husband who worked as a computer analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield, which occupied 10 f loors at One World Trade Center.

Ramon did not die instantly when the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001. First, he suffered severe burns, and then humiliation. He was mistakenly turned over to a Chinese family, recalled Nenita.

“He died on September 15; we buried my husband after 10 days.”

Ramon and 20 other Filipinos were among the nearly 3,000 people who perished in 9/11.

Their lives were remembered in nuggets of narratives read in a solemn ceremony marked by music and spoken word performances. The Tenth Anniversary Tribute for Filipino American Families was a collaboration by 15 community organizations led by the Filipino American National Historical Society of Metro New York. The tribute happened in 2011.

“This time of the year is never easy for any of us,” intoned Dr. Kevin Nadal, president of the FANHS-Metro NY, who lost an uncle to the historic tragedy. It is a time, he said, when Filipinos saw their homes crumble and their dreams crushed. “Many of

Grace Alegre Cua

Hector Tamayo

Ramon Grijalvo

them immigrated to this country in search of a better life. Many of them were young professionals who were just getting their lives started.”

Grace Alegre Cua was one of them. She applied for an accounting job at Metropolitan Bank & Trust, but did not get the position in part because the hiring manager had a crush on her, and they married shortly after. “She didn’t get the job but found a husband,” the husband Ildefons Cua told The New York Times. She eventually found a job at another bank with offices at Two World Trade Center.

Another fatality was Marsh & McLennan accountant Cesar Alviar, a lover of ballroom dancing who always kissed his wife of 28 years before leaving the house to go to work. On September 11, he paused after the kiss “like he wanted to say something,” recalled his wife.

But she was rushing, and did not

find the time to listen to what he had to say.

Two families from New Jersey lost cousins Judy Fernandez and Ma. Theresa Santillan. They were among the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees whose lives were cut short in the horrific attacks. Ma. Theresa was planning her wedding for the following year, and Judy was to be her maid of honor.

Julian Tamayo recalled the music-filled life of his father, Hector, a civil engineer who worked at Two World Trade Center. His favorite song, “Today” by John Denver, was played during the ceremony.

Julian said the song speaks so much of what his father’s life was about – relishing each day with friends and family “like it was always today.”

A video message of widower Rudy Abad paying tribute to his wife, Marie Rose, was aired.

Rudy is back in the Philippines continuing the charity work

begun by his wife. Marie Rose survived the 1993 attack on the WTC by walking down 110 stories, but stood no chance in 2001 when her building collapsed.

Rudy has donated money to build homes for squatter families.

He said, “There are now thousands of families whose lives have changed because my wife died.”

The 21 Filipinos who perished in 9/11: Marie Rose Abad, Grace Alegre-Cua, Cesar Alviar, Marlyn Bautista, Cecile Caguicla, Jayceryll deChavez, Benilda Domingo, Judy Fernandez, Ronald Gamboa (who died with partner Daniel Brandhorst and their adopted son David GamboaBrandhorst), Ramon Grijalvo, Frederick Kuo Jr., Arnold Lim, Manuel Lopez, Ruben Ornedo, Carl Allen Peralta, Maria Theresa Santillan, Rufino Conrado Santos, David Marc Sullins, Larry Sumaya, Hector Tamayo, and Cynthia Betita Motus Wilson.

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The 9/11 museum: Honoring those we lost

By John Sapida

I was a young child, around 9 years old, when the September 11 attacks happened. I do not remember much about my personal reaction, or if I had any, but I knew that amidst the emotions and confusion around me, this was something out of the ordinary.

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ecently, I decided to pay a visit to the National September 11 Memorial Museum to follow up on a project I did for school on the topic of “dark tourism and representation of mass atrocity through memorials and museums.” I was curious about this episode of contemporary history, and also because the museum gives out free tickets every Tuesday evenings.

The museum was built and opened to the public ‘Wall of Faces.’ Photo: September 11 Memorial Museum language they choose. Visitors are then allowed in May 2014. Amidst criticisms and controverto tag their message geographically to where they sies, it has been an attraction for Americans and are from around the world. tourists alike. Visiting this site and viewing the Finally, the third exhibit features a recording exhibitions and artifacts will definitely bring studio where visitors can record oral rememvisitors back to the events of 9/11 and commemobrances that could potentially become part of the rate the lives lost. exhibits.

One of the most powerful is an exhibit entitled Some other major exhibitions include relics In Memoriam. Within this exhibit is the “Wall from the Twin Towers, such as the Survivors’ of Faces” created by images of the nearly 3,000 Stairs. Visitors can find some leftover steel that people who perished. The exhibit also provides a reflective space to learn more about them. A small shows the impact of the attacks on the building.

Other items, such as an elevator motor, a fire screening room shows photo reels and provides truck, a bike rack, and a large radio and television biographies and recordings of their stories.

There are three notable interactive and immersive antenna, are also preserved.

The museum is also home to original pieces media exhibits which provide great opportunity to of art inspired by 9/11. One of them is Spencer witness compelling storytelling. First, the museum features an 11-minute excerpt from the documentary Finch’s “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on that September Morning” which symbolizes film, entitled “Rebirth at Ground Zero,” produced each of those who perished as well as those slain by the Project Rebirth nonprofit organization which in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. creates programs that facilitate healing after 9/11.

They are represented by the individual squares in This documentary shows years of time-lapse different shades of blue. footage and voice clips of interviews to show the The victims’ personal belongings, such a pair rebuilding of the new tower at One World Trade of ladies shoes and a backpack left in the rush to Center. The exhibit literally puts you in the escape the burning buildings, were unearthed middle of the action. and exhibited.

Another exhibit allows visitors to write and Upon leaving the museum, I started thinking share memories and messages of hope, thanks, and encouragement on a touch screen kiosk in any how possibly every single person viewing the THE FILAM |

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Eighteen years. Photo by Lee Snyder/Shutterstock exhibit remembered where they were on 9/11. I also thought what this memorial could mean for the family members of the departed. Like the survivors, the families were directly affected by the events, and this museum is their space for contemplation and a way for them to reconnect with the memories of their loved ones. It is important to meditate about 9/11 with careful consideration for everyone whose lives it shattered.

COVER STORY

Eva Noblezada: Under the spell of ‘Hadestown’

By Cristina DC Pastor

From a bar girl who ended her life in “Miss Saigon” to a Greek goddess bitten by a viper in “Hadestown,” it’s been one heartbreaking character after another for Broadway’s newest star Eva Noblezada.

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hese were roles huge and heavy and worthy of Tony nominations.

The twice-nominated Eva welcomed both and admits to feeling overwhelmed and sometimes awkward. “I’m doing my best not to get lost in all the noise,” she writes in her blog.

Before she auditioned for the role of Eurydice, the lover of Orpheus, she knew nothing about “Hadestown.” With music written by Anaïs Mitchell, it was first staged in 2006, before going into a seven-day, 10-city tour in 2007. She was happy to land the role.

“I love this show so much,” said Eva in an email interview with The FilAm. “It’s dark and it’s about the beautiful circles of life. The repetitiveness of love and heartbreak and learning and consequences and hope. It’s got me under its spell. I’m grateful that they even asked me to audition.”

She made a vague reference to the storyline as a modern-day love story of Romeo and Juliet. “It’s a break from the harsh world to do this show and be swept away by its emotional influence,” she said.

Eurydice is a dream role, she declared. “She’s a badass.”

In the Greek tale, she is a nymph that is largely overshadowed by the powerful men around her – her father Apollo and her husband Orpheus. In this Broadway version, “it is my job,” said Eva, “to give Eurydice a voice.”

“I love that she’s independent.

However, it is sad that it comes from being alone and knowing how to survive rather than live,” she said seeming to flesh out the complicated character.

||‘Small little Mexicasian’

Eva Maria was born in San Diego to a Filipino father and a Mexican mother, assigning herself the cute moniker of “small little Mexicasian.”

“My parents were high school sweethearts! They lived down the street from each other,” she said describing how Jon and Angie Noblezada met. Eva has two younger siblings Olivia who is 16 and Ian, 12.

“I love my family. I was able to truly experience both cultures equally! Which is a blessing and also a crap ton of wonderful food,” she said.

When the family moved to North Carolina, she went to Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, a school that introduced her to the performing arts and opened the door to possibilities that, maybe, one day, who knows, she could be in New York City and acting on a stage in Broadway.

She did a lot of theater in high school. “Not professionally,” she stated.

“My high school was a performing arts one so I had a little bit of experience with that.”

She won theater honors in school and received the Jimmy’s Awards in New York. There, she was spotted by a casting director who urged her to try out for “Miss Saigon.” After THE FILAM |

Happy to land the role of Eurydice. ‘She’s a badass.’ Photo by Gabriel Mokake

With Reeve Carney as Orpheus. Photo by Matthew Murphy 10

a quick tryout, she got the role of Kim, the Vietnamese prostitute who has a child with an American serviceman. At age 17, she was in London playing Kim and was there all by herself. She writes in her blog, “…that first year in London I was only seventeen. I was a baby.”

Now 23, Eva is not quite the veteran she is on Broadway, but her two acting credits and the Tonys attached to them give her name celebrity luster.

“It’s a tough career,” she told The FilAm. “It is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. You are constantly trying to please everyone.

The audience, the producers, the directors, the cast, and ultimately yourself. Most importantly yourself.

That’s one lesson I’m still learning.”

Looking forward, she would like to play a role she herself has written.

“I don’t know who or what or when but that would be awesome.”

By which time, said Eva, she would have emerged on her own and grown confident and self-aware as an artist.

Eva and the cast of ‘Hadestown.’ Photo by Matthew Murphy

Lolita Valderrama Savage opens solo exhibition in Florence

“I

n cerca dei sogni” – In search of dreams – is the new exhibition by Filipino American artist Lolita Valderrama Savage. It opens October 1 at Palazzo Bastogi, in Florence, Italy.

The exhibition offers a selection of drawings and oil paintings, in which the artist narrates her longstanding affection for Tuscany, where her artistic education and career mainly took place.

Born in the Philippines, Lolita received her degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts in Manila. She completed her art education in Florence, Italy. Here, she was guided

by Silvio Loffredo, professor of the Accademia di Belle Arti. Art, history, and landscape enriched her artistic sign and her way of looking at the world.

The exhibition opening at Palazzo Bastogi, headquarters of the Consiglio Regionale of Tuscany, is meant to show the “notes” Lolita took during this artistic journey: sunsets, landscapes, glimpses of plants and country villas

are depicted on paper or canvas as vivid memories or quick impressions. Some of the exhibited artworks share a realistic language and marked brush strokes, while some others are characterized by an open composition and softer and lighter lines, that let us feel the artist’s emotions and sensitivity.

According to Francesca Bertini, curator of the exhibition, Lolita’s artistic journey is like “an unrolling ribbon, where the feelings coming from the surroundings appear, let us look at them and discover our land: Lolita goes on excursions in the countryside, fascinated

by Tuscan landscape and culture, she explores the territory and notes down her feelings during her strolling. We like playing with these memories, comparing the way she wanders and examines nature from real life – drawing courtyards of suburban villas, rustic cloisters in ruins, small country roads – to the way the Macchiaioli (Signorini, Lega, Abbati...) depicted countryside spots and landscape glimpses.”

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She strolls countrysides and takes ‘notes’ of sunsets, landscapes and country villas.

Calendar

of Events

||September 3 to October 20

Maia Cruz Palileo solo show Katzen Arts Center at American University 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

||September 21

9th Annual All About Downtown Jersey City Street Fair Grove PATH Plaza 319 Grove St, Jersey City

||September 23 to October 11 Empowering Mindanao Craftsmanship Philippine Center Fifth Avenue NYC

||October 5

Handang Tumulong Foundation 5K Run Lincoln Park, Jersey City

||October 5

Sa Dilaw na...Buwan sa NYC! Juan Karlos and Takethestage La Boom 56-15 Northern Blvd, Woodside, NYC

Live in New York: Jovit Baldivino and Marcelito Pomoy La Boom 56-15 Northern Blvd, Woodside Queens

Faith Hope & Love with Kirby Asunto and Jared Martin, a benefit concert for Nikki Auxilio Philippine Consulate Kalayaan Hall Fifth Avenue, NYC

||October 26

||October 5 ||September 13

||October 25

9th TOFA Awards Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall 154 W 57th St, NYC

Pagdiriwang: 10th Anniversary of the Filipino School of New York & New Jersey The Women’s Club of Ridgewood 215 W. Ridgewood Avenue Ridgewood, N.J.

||November 1 to November 2

Pilipinx Diasporic Healers Circle Studio Pachamama 107 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn

||November 2

UP Alumni Association of DC, MD, VA Sapphire Ball Fairview Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 3111 Fairview Park Dr, Falls Church, Virginia 22042

||September 13

Musika at Sining with Sheree Bautista: A benefit concert D'Haven 58-02 37th Avenue Woodside NYC

||September 14

||October 10 to 13

KZ Tandingan: Supreme the World Tour Melrose Ballroom, Long Island City, Queens

PWU Centennial in N.Y. Philippine Center Lobby Fifth Avenue, NYC

||September 15

||October 12

Hawaiian Night 2019 Cathedral High School 350 E 56th Street, NYC

KayCee Galano: Bach Complete Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall 154 W. 57th St., NYC

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||November 16

Gail Banawis and Angel Ram in concert Apollo Theater 253 W 125th St, NYV

||2020, July 1

Filipino American National Historical Society Metro NY Chapter National Conference Waikiki Marriott Beach Resort & Spa, Hawaii

Veterans hurt, outraged

by Trump plan to end parole program

By Jon Melegrito

Veteran Rudy Panaglima, 89, of Arlington, VA. is grateful that two of his four grown children were able to come last year to care for him and his 86-yearold wife, Pura, who passed away recently after struggling with Alzheimer’s. The Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (FWWVP) authorized

by President Barack Obama in 2016 allowed Panaglima and 5,000 other veterans living in the U.S. to be reunited with family members who live in the Philippines. Panaglima was among 300 veterans who applied.

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ut when he learned that President Trump wanted to end the program, Panaglima said he was “hurt once again,” recalling the 1946 Rescission Act that denied him and his comrades their rightful status and benefits.

“We served under the American flag, and yet we continue to be treated as if our sacrifices don’t matter,” he said. “Who are we that the President should think less of us?”

Celestino Almeda, who turned 103 in June, is also “outraged” that “the President doesn’t seem to care that we put our lives on the line defending this country.” Although his family in Gaithersburg, MD. have looked after him over the years, it angers him that there are still several of his comrades who will spend the rest of their lives without loved ones caring for them.

“This is not right,” said the 91-year-old Rey Cabacar of Ft. Washington, MD., one of the few

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez and veterans (from left) Justino Delara, Potenciano Dee, Celestino Almeda, and Rey Cabacar observed Day of Valor/Philippine Veterans Week in April 2018 at the National World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. Photo by FilVetREP remaining Filipino veterans living in the Washington, D.C. area. “We waited long for recognition, and it came only after many of our comrades have already died. We waited long for family reunification, and now many of them will die without their families on their side. This makes me very sad.”

||Another broken promise

Calling the Trump administration’s decision “unwarranted and extremely distressing for families of living WWII veterans,” FilVetREP National Chairman Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (Ret) noted that “this is another broken promise against our veterans. It is senseless and totally unacceptable to terminate a program that would have allowed children to rejoin their parents. It is patently arbitrary and unjust to target aging and ailing veterans who only have a few years to live.”

Taguba led the effort in 2017 to secure legislation awarding the THE FILAM |

Congressional Gold Medal to Filipino and American World War II veterans.

“Although it was largely a symbolic act, it was nonetheless historic in the way it honored their service and sacrifice,” he said. “But the ending of the family reunification program, like the 1946 Rescission Act, deprives the few veterans who are still alive some measure of dignity and pride in their sunset years. For their duty to country, they don’t deserve this. It is an egregious act of injustice and discrimination and unwarranted at best.”

FilVetREP plans to work with other organizations, members of Congress and national civil rights advocates to consider appropriate actions to rescind the Trump administration’s plan of terminating the Filipino World War II Veterans family reunification parole program.

NaFFAA – or the National Federation of Filipino American Associations — issued a statement from 13

National Chairman Brendan Flores.

He said, “Our brave Filipino World War II Veteran warriors risked their lives to fight for the United States, and this parole program was put in place as a way to honor their service and to acknowledge the dwindling amount of time left to reunite these brave heroes with their families.

“It was only a few short years ago that I had the honor and privilege to witness then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan honor our Filipino American WWII veterans with the Congressional Gold Medal at the U.S. Capitol. This honor was the culmination of a true bipartisan effort to recognize the extraordinary contributions and sacrifices of these brave men and women. Ending this program now diminishes the legacy of our proud Filipino American WWII veterans, and is an unfortunate rebuke to the very few remaining veterans, whose opportunity to reunite with their families will end with this action.”

Marvel’s latest superhero is a Pinay from Cebu

By Wendell Gaa

I was at the recent IndieKet Komikon convention in Ortigas assisting my good friend comic artist Clark Steven Lupton who was exhibiting at his table.

I

took some time to walk around to see what the other artist booths had on display. To my amazement, one was selling copies of the first issue of Marvel Comic’s new series “The War of the Realms, New Agents of Atlas,” which features the debut of Marvel’s newest superhero Wave, depicted as a Filipina water warrior from Cebu City.

Marvel never ceases to impress me with how increasingly inclusive it has grown within the past few years. It has expanded its storytelling through the creation of superheroes of diverse nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, including the successful adoption of “Black Panther,” the most lucrative film starring an African superhero.

With Marvel’s recent announcement of the 2021 release of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” -- featuring an Asian character as the main hero -- I couldn’t be more excited to witness how the comics industry behemoth is exploring characters which may not be known to Western audiences, and then sharing them through all forms of media. There can be no doubt that the Wave character is another fine example of the company’s growing inclusiveness.

At this booth which I had visited, I took a long glaring look at this copy of “The War of the Realms” comic with our very own Wave gracing the front cover. Without hesitation, I purchased a copy, very eager to see

The author snaps up a copy of the latest Marvel comics with Wave on the cover

Wave a.k.a. Pearl Pangan. Photo: Marvel Comics what pages would reveal about the Filipina superhero. As I read through the pages, I learned so much more intriguing information about the “War of the Realms” series which is indeed something Marvel has not done before, depict an assembled all-Asian superhero team.

The “Agents of Atlas” refer to an international secret society known as the Atlas Foundation, comprising young heroes with unique abilities.

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Their mission is to protect humanity from global threats, a mission not unlike that of their more established and well-known colleagues the Avengers. They are led by a former agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D) named Jimmy Woo, a ChineseAmerican. The team itself comprises an inter-Asian crew whose members include Kamala Khan (“Ms. Marvel”), 15

a Pakistani-American; and Amadeus Cho (“The Brawn”), a KoreanAmerican.

Further adding to the story’s diversity is our very own Wave, whose real name is Pearl Pangan and is a native of Cebu City. A creation of Korean-American comic book writer Greg Pak and Filipino artist Leinil Francis Yu, Wave has the superpower ability to control water. In the comic book cover, she was drawn with fine attractive Filipina features, wearing a black, gold and aqua armor while wielding a crystal sword. This being her debut appearance in a comic book, nothing was revealed about her exact origins, background and upbringing, but those questions definitely left me as a reader and fan all the more fascinated and intrigued to see how her backstory and character will evolve. And I do yearn to see the day that the beautiful Wave will be performed on the big screen.

Fiesta In America grateful to the community for its loyalty Fiesta In America presented Empowerment Awards to FilAm achievers, including a bank president and an advocate for autism education during its People’s Ball on August 9.

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his year’s honorees are Mary Grace Asufrin for Nursing Leadership, Roger Santos for Philanthropy, Alvin and Prima Hower for International Community Service, Dr. Lirio Covey for Autism Advocacy, Eric Bustamante for Banking Management, Roumel Reyes for Achievement in International Chess, and a posthumous award to Dr. Fely Quines, a former Fiesta Hermana Mayor.

Billed as the biggest expo and cultural show on the East Coast, this year’s Fiesta faced a competing event held on the same weekend and with almost the same name.

“Despite a competing free-admission event held only a few miles from our venue on the same day as Fiesta In America, avid and new followers of our event still came in droves,” said Nanding Mendez, the event’s President and CEO. “It only signifies the loyalty of the FilAm community whose goodwill was nurtured for more than two decades by Fiesta In America, and the potent recall of the event’s brand,” said Prof. Laura Garcia, vice president for Community Outreach.

The August 10 and 11 events at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, New Jersey was highlighted by concert performances from American disco icons to Philippine teleserye superstars, a trade pavilion featuring export-grade products from Central Mindanao, and free workshops on franchising and financial management.

This year is Fiesta’s 21st anniversary.

Fiesta In America CEO Nanding Mendez (4th from left) and VP for Community Outreach Prof. Laura Garcia (to his left) with Empowerment Awards honorees.

Non-stop dancing at the Hollywood-themed People’s Ball.

Among the exhibitors at the trade expo is Caryna LLC boutique.

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The People’s Ball, held at the Meadowlands Hilton in East Rutherford, is a companion event usually celebrated on the eve of the weekend expo.

“It is Fiesta’s way of honoring the leaders of the community for their achievements in various fields of endeavor and expertise,” said Mendez.

Providing the musical numbers were 9-year-old singing prodigy Denise Kara, The Voice 2018 sensation Radha, TV soap superstars JC De Vera and Yam Concepcion, as well as Janice Marie Johnson, lead singer of Grammy-winner A Taste Of Honey.

Filipino companies pitched the value of investing in Philippine real estate. Ateneo Graduate School of Business Professor Jonathan Petalver conducted workshops on the rapidly growing franchising industry, and Atty. Carol Tanjutco of Eagle Strategies, LLC spoke on the challenges of estate planning and discussed concerns about wealth management in middle age.

This year’s Santacruzan Hermano and Hermana Mayor are Dr. Francisco Reyes and wife Cora Reyes.

A summer treat: Pelikula and popcorn It was standing-room only at the Philippine Center’s Kalayaan Hall on August 8 with more than 170 filmgoers turning up for the second night of the Philippine Consulate’s very popular Sinehan sa Summer.

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he evening featured 12 short films directed and/or written by upcoming filmmakers: Joey Agbayani’s “Lola;” Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Jodilerks Dela Cruz: Employee of the Month;” Craig Nisperos’ “Mr. Immature;” Jameelah Rose Lineses’ “Atareek;” Gabby Malvar’s “Walis;” Joel Ruiz’s “Mansyon;” Nicole Dizon’s “Boxed;” Raymund Eugenio’s “Mukbang Masarap;” Emma Noelle Buhain’s “Wedding Dance;” Mika Fabella and Rafael Froilan’s “Yakap;” Wester Demandante’s “Kaaway;” and Rommel Tolentino’s “P”. A trailer of the film “Yellow Rose” directed by Diane Paragas was played at the beginning of the film screening.

The short films received raves from the audience.

One described some of the films as “thought-provoking” while “Lola,” “Mansyon,” and “P” elicited laughs from the audience.

A jampacked Kalayaan Hall during the second night of Sinehan sa Summer 2019. Photo by Philippine Consulate During the talk-back at the end of the screening, film directors Craig Nisperos, Jameelah Rose Lineses, Nicole Dizon, Raymund Eugenio, and Diane Paragas answered questions from moderator Gil Quito and the audience. To questions about challenges and opportunities in the film industry, Eugenio said that “family and food are the two things that always connect us and are always part of Filipino culture.” Dizon shared she wants her films to bridge the generational gap between her parents’ generation and that of the young FilAms, particularly during this time when culture in America tends to be individualistic. Paragas shared that it took her 15 years to develop and get “Yellow Rose” produced. She said the film comes at an opportune time when debate on immigration is intense.

Consul General Claro S. Cristobal presented certificates of appreciation to the directors and thanked them for allowing their films to be featured at Sinehan sa Summer.

Deputy Consul General Kerwin Tate thanked the screening committee members, Cinemalaya, TBA Studios, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and members of Friends from Abra, Association of Fil-Am Accountants Inc. NY, Cagayan de Oro City – Misamis Oriental Association of NY, Inc., Cebuanos Engaging in Building Unity, Inc., and the Filipino-American Association of Engineers for their ‘Wedding Dance’ is a 7-minute film by Emma Noelle Buhain about a young bride and a dismembered male continued support for Sinehan. mannequin.

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COVER STORY

Jonathan Wong is the youngest FilAm politician

By Maricar CP Hampton & Cristina DC Pastor

When Jonathan ‘Jon’ Wong was a young boy, he had to undergo an emergency appendectomy.

He was misdiagnosed by multiple doctors, but two Filipina doctors saved his life.

“I

Full-time politician and full-time lawyer.

t was truly a miracle that he survived a four-day ruptured appendix,” recalled Jon’s mother, the Philippine-born Grace Sideco Wong.

Grace arrived in the U.S. in 1981 and worked as a pediatric nurse after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Rutgers University.

She married an American-born Chinese mechanical engineer, Steven Wong. Their 32 year-marriage has been blessed with three children Jonathan, Sarah, and Leah who “love each other very much and get along very well.”

“This was the time I knew that God has a purpose for his life. I will never forget that very night when he was critical. I asked God that if He

will make my son live, he will live to do His will,” Grace said in an interview with The FilAm. At the age of 23 when Jon won a seat in the Mahwah, N.J. Town Council, Grace said she cried so hard. “It reminded me of my prayer that very night of his surgery that Jonathan will be used for God’s Kingdom. God has a purpose for his life.”

Jonathan is now a town official and a lawyer working at a New York City law firm. He is the youngest Filipino American politician, endearing him to his FilAm community.

Now 28 years old, he has a packed schedule that keeps him continually engaged with work, legislative duties, community outreach, and an active social calendar.

“He knows I don’t ask a lot from him but only one thing: Do not miss church on Sundays. Even during the Sunday parades of PIDCI and PAFCOM after we walk in the parade, we attend church. Sunday worship is very important for our family,” she said.

Jon is a very special grandchild, according to his mother. “He is the only one that will carry the Wong name among the eight grandchildren on my husband’s side. He loved his grandparents. His grandma died in 2010.”

During his swearing-in in 2014 and 2018, Jon asked his grandpa to hold the Bible. “Jon told me the most important person at his swearing-in was his grandpa.”

When his grandfather passed away at the age of 94 this past February, Jon delivered an eloquent eulogy about how he would miss ‘lolo’ who THE FILAM |

lived with the Wong family for 25 years. He drove him to church for the last 10 years and they would have a meal together after church.

||Now a lawyer

He decided, after winning a place on the Township Council in 2014, to attend law school. It took a lot of dedication and commitment, said Grace. But he was recognized by the American Bar Association as the only full-time law student and fulltime politician ever.

Jon passed the New York Uniform Bar Examination with a high score good enough to apply for licensure in all the 36 states. In addition to the New York Bar, he plans to also become a lawyer in New Jersey, where he lives.

“Having a legal background is important,” Jon spoke reflectively when interviewed by The FilAm. “As a councilman being a lawyer helps me to better serve my community. It helps me view issues from different perspectives, and I have also gained valuable skills in negotiations.”

As a councilmember representing Mahwah – the largest municipality in Bergen County with a population estimated at 26,000 and where there are only 165 Filipinos – Jon was elected to a second term to serve until 2022.

He had amazing returns in both elections, said Grace. In his first election, he was the second highest vote recipient, five votes away from the top vote getter who is a seasoned politician. In 2018, he topped the council elections with 4,400 votes without any endorsement from any party. He ran as an independent 18

A fishing trip with the family, but golf is also a favorite past-time. both times reflecting his intention to remain separate from the ideological differences plaguing the two major parties in his community. In 2016 he ran for mayor. He did not win, but his candidacy gave him the exposure and a platform to articulate his campaign to “keep Mahwah affordable and keep Mahwah first.”

||The Council

Jon said the council has managed to keep taxes within reach of the average Mahwah family.

“I am proud of many things we’ve accomplished including live-streamed council meetings to increase transpar-

ency in how the municipality works and in keeping our tax rate low. I believe we have worked hard as a council to meet the individual needs of the citizens of our community as well,” he said.

Difficult choices are inevitable, especially when it comes to the budget. “Challenges will always arise when we need to discuss the budget and the competing priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. It’s important to find the balance between keeping property taxes low and prioritizing expenditures,” he said further.

||Public school-educated

Born in Livingston, N.J., Jon moved to Mahwah when he was 3 years old. He is a product of Mahwah’s public school system from elementary to high school.

He graduated from CUNY Baruch College with a degree in Finance & Investments in 2013. The following year, he was elected to the town council.

Jon is proud of his Filipino and Chinese heritage. “I am grateful to my parents for exposing my sisters and myself to both cultures and the sound values that their religious beliefs have provided us.”

Jon with parents Steven and Grace and sisters Sarah and Leah. ‘The siblings get along very well.’

Grace believes that Jon is growing up to be like his father. “He is reserved, formal, a man of few words. He admires his father and both of them get along very well.”

Jon is also displaying the traits of his entrepreneurial mother. He became a licensed real estate agent for the family-owned company, Trinity Property Management, after college. When the subject of taxes come up in council meetings, he can bring the perspectives of a community business owner.

The Filipino in him enjoys watching boxing, but it’s golf he has taken an interest in. “It’s quite challenging.”

How far he will go in politics, Grace leaves it all to God. “My son is in God’s hands. God holds his future.”

Jon is aware how some in the Filipino American community tease him -- actually want him -- to be the first Asian President. Jon would just smile without letting anyone know how he truly feels. He likes to say, “My goal is to serve my community to the best of my ability.”

20 years for Trump fanatic Cesar Sayoc Cesar Sayoc, who mailed homemade bombs to prominent individuals, including Democratic politicians, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to reports.

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ayoc’s father, Cesar Sayoc Sr., is a Filipino immigrant. His mother is an American woman from Brooklyn. Dubbed the “MAGA (Make America Great Again) bomber,” he is a fanatic follower of Donald Trump and described by people who know him as being outspoken about his admiration for the former reality TV show personality.

U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff sentenced him to 20 years which includes drug and mental health treatment. On hearing the sentence, Sayoc, according to reports, bowed down his head and said, “I am beyond very sorry for what I did.”

According to the FBI, Sayoc sent IEDS (improvised explosive devices) to 13 individuals, including former President Barack Obama, financier George Soros,

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, Democrat senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and other people he perceived to be critics of Trump.

“Each device consisted of roughly six inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, some wiring, and what is known as ‘energetic material,’ which is essentially potential explosives and material that gives off heat and energy through a reaction to heat, shock, or friction,” the FBI said in a press statement.

Although none of the bombs exploded, the FBI said, “These are not hoax devices.”

Sayoc, who had previously worked as a pizza delivery man and a nightclub dancer, is known to drive a van covered with stickers of Trump.

His lawyer, a federal public defender, THE FILAM |

said he was sexually abused as a teen, popped steroids, and suffered from a mental disorder. He read books by Trump and began to look up to him as a “father figure.”

The FBI investigation occurred between October 22 and 24, 2018, when suspicious packages were received at multiple locations in the New York and Washington, D.C., areas and Florida, said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The break came when a package sent to Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters contained a fingerprint investigators were able to trace to Sayoc. His fingerprint was in a criminal database collected from a previous arrest.

Wray said an investigation of “enormous scope and of the greatest importance” such as this one took law enforcers across the country to New York, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Florida, and California. It involved aside from the FBI, agencies such as the United States Secret Service, 19

His lawyer said Sayoc looked up to Donald Trump as a ‘father figure.’ Photo: Broward County Sheriff’s Office United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Phenomenal work,” he said.

Issue 19, September 2019

Pelikula &

popcorn at Sinehan sa Summer p17

Pinay

from Cebu is Marvel’s newest superhero p15

Jonathan Wong:

Mahwah’s cool, contemplative councilman p18