tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72649074002803604592011-10-25T08:20:22.265-07:00Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.comBlogger1761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-71030444549374662242010-04-28T14:46:00.000-07:002010-04-29T14:48:28.016-07:00

We are now in the homestretch of a marathon election campaign where the runners have to sprint to the finish line, where it now goes quickly from ugly to really ugly. It’s kitchen sink time when candidates behind in the count start throwing everything at the frontrunner. In the case of Manny Villar, who has invested billions of pesos of his personal fortune into his presidential campaign, this

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-26558861526515469762010-04-21T14:49:00.000-07:002010-04-29T14:51:00.816-07:00

The blogosphere has been inundated with projections about the probable outcome of the May 10 elections in the Philippines with many bloggers predicting an outright Noynoy Aquino victory based on the strength of polls that show him consistently holding on to 37% or more of the vote. Still others contend that Manny Villar will eke out a win despite falling in the polls from 35% to 22%, just

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-63605625802779661352010-04-14T14:51:00.000-07:002010-04-29T14:52:22.924-07:00

No one ever heard of him before and no one knows anything more about him since but the hitherto unknown Vetellano Acosta is the first name that close to 55 million Filipino voters will see on their ballots in the May 10 elections. Prior to January 15, 2010, the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) had only approved eight presidential candidates whose names would be listed alphabetically

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-81799286280138416212010-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:002010-01-28T14:06:02.336-08:00

When Maritess Salientes Bloom, a dual citizen from Boston, Massachusetts, appeared at a hearing before the members of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Manila on January 14, 2010, she was hopeful that the commissioners would grant her petition to extend the voter registration period for overseas Filipinos. There was, after all, no opposition to her petition and the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-76113439628875322582010-01-28T13:00:00.000-08:002010-01-28T13:01:08.140-08:00

My niece, Pauli, was only ten years old when Gene Cajayon’s feature length film, The Debut, was shown in mainstream theatres all over the US in March of 2002. Many years later, when Pauli was in her teens, she saw the movie on DVD about the Filipino American traditional celebration of an 18-year old girl’s debut and it inspired her to celebrate her own debut just the way that her aunts recounted

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-14797510246300194912010-01-28T12:48:00.000-08:002010-01-28T13:00:13.845-08:00

The end of 2009 found Mt. Mayon, in the Southern Luzon province of Albay, on the verge of erupting as molten magma flowed half a mile down from its crater and dark plumes of ashes filled the sky causing the evacuation of more than 20,000 residents in and around the 8,070 ft. volcano. But the feared eruption never came and the villagers returned to their homes. Many feared that Mt. Mayon would go

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-7340053883846907642010-01-28T12:37:00.000-08:002010-01-28T12:46:55.442-08:00

For the past several decades, it had been the practice of the San Francisco Philippine Consulate to celebrate Rizal Day on the occasion of his death anniversary on December 30 with a solemn program usually featuring the recitation of Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” (My Last Farewell) and speakers extolling the virtues of Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal. I was a speaker on a number of those

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-56026603662091824842010-01-28T12:34:00.001-08:002010-01-28T12:34:26.256-08:00

About a week ago, I saw my son, Daniel, in his computer viewing a 10-minute video that had been emailed to him by a classmate who had videotaped her friends for a class project. He was in the video, Litany of Love, reciting a rap poem that he had composed and committed to memory. I watched it with him and was impressed with what I saw. I asked my son to email the video to me and when he did, I

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-28337995386467039132010-01-28T12:32:00.000-08:002010-01-28T12:33:30.795-08:00

Responding to a plea to extend the time to register to vote in the May 2010 elections, the Philippine Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on December 8, 2009 extending the voter registration period to January 9, 2010. Because the decision only covers voters in the Philippines, a petition to the Court to extend its ruling to cover overseas Filipinos will be filed this week. Filipinos in the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-65750391531914843922010-01-28T12:22:00.000-08:002010-01-28T12:31:56.106-08:00

Just exactly why did Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo file her Certificate of Candidacy to run for a congressional seat in her home province of Pampanga? Her political opponents and press pundits speculate that she did so as a first step to seek and win the post of Speaker of the next Congress, a position from which she can then move to change the constitution to a parliamentary form where she can

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-18578826704836328272010-01-28T12:13:00.000-08:002010-01-28T12:22:30.827-08:00

In the weeks following the Ampatuan Massacre, I scoured through hundreds of news articles and opinion columns about the barbaric slaughter of 61 innocent people, including 31 working journalists. I also saw posted on the Internet gruesome close-up photos of the mangled, brutalized bodies of the victims, images which still haunt me. One columnist, Jose Ma. Montelibano, wrote that he was “crushed

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-31226768924573240402010-01-28T12:11:00.000-08:002010-01-28T12:13:33.628-08:00

For millions of Americans, including many tens of thousands of Filipino-Americans, who are struggling mightily to pay their bank mortgages and stay “above water” to avoid bank foreclosures, a recent decision by a New York judge may offer much-needed relief. On November 19, 2009, New York Judge Jeffrey Arlen Spinner issued a decision canceling the $527,437 mortgage of a Long Island couple whose

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-82495615430637925342009-11-20T11:12:00.000-08:002009-11-20T11:16:54.305-08:00

In his prize-winning play, The Iceman Cometh, Eugene O’Neill presents a drama about the human need for hope and illusion as a response to the conditions of despair. If ever the Filipino people needed a distraction from the wearying conditions of despair that surround them, now is the time and Manny “the Pacman” Pacquiao is the man to provide the hope and illusion. He is our Iceman. With his

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-5712885909578524492009-11-20T10:58:00.000-08:002009-11-20T10:58:15.640-08:00

If you google "Chinese American History Month" or "Japanese American History Month", the search engines will all direct you to "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month" which, you will be informed, was enacted on October 28, 1992 to honor the achievements of Asian/Pacific Americans and to recognize their contributions to the United States. All 30 or so Asian ethnic groups in the US were lumped

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-36139479920591989252009-11-15T10:53:00.000-08:002009-11-20T10:56:53.522-08:00

Senator Noynoy Aquino leads in all the presidential polls that have been taken in the Philippines in the last month, receiving more preferential votes than all his opponents combined.But before his supporters can start planning a yellow-themed celebration in May of 2010, there are still formidable obstacles standing in his way and they are not Manny Villar, Erap Estrada, or Gibo Teodoro.The first

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-69142409910186095742009-10-28T10:58:00.000-07:002009-11-20T11:12:07.744-08:00

Barack Obama is not the first nor the youngest US president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. That distinction belongs to Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt who was awarded the honor in 1906 for his role ending the Russo-Japanese War. But “Peace” has never been a word associated with Roosevelt’s policies and world view, especially as they affected the Philippines. Roosevelt was a young author (“The Naval

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-43405942312425505252009-10-19T11:22:00.000-07:002009-10-19T11:31:47.838-07:00

Almost a century after Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Bahamas Islands on October 12, 1492 and claimed for the king of Spain what would later be called “the Americas ”, Spanish Captain Pedro de Unamuno “discovered” California on the other side of the continent. Although Columbus’ discovery is celebrated as a national holiday in the United States, in Spain , and throughout South America, no

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-70983291007652221642009-10-07T11:16:00.000-07:002009-10-19T11:22:06.879-07:00

Almost a century after Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Bahamas Islands on October 12, 1492 and claimed for the king of Spain what would later be called “the Americas ”, Spanish Captain Pedro de Unamuno “discovered” California on the other side of the continent. Although Columbus ’ discovery is celebrated as a national holiday in the United States , in Spain , and throughout South America,

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-62664719967091618812009-09-30T23:15:00.000-07:002009-10-02T23:16:52.880-07:00

It was billed as Ondoy-Ketsana, which is O-K, only it wasn’t. Ketsana-Ondoy is more appropriate because it was a walloping K-O that this tropical storm unleashed on the Philippines, akin to what Manny Pacquiao inflicted on Ricky Hatton last May. Only much, much worse. The photos of the devastation in the hard-hit areas of Metro Manila were harrowing and heart-wrenching: shanties shattered and

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-35457326938934419562009-09-23T20:38:00.000-07:002009-09-29T20:39:17.610-07:00

Two years ago this month, former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada was found guilty of Plunder by the Philippine Anti-Graft Court (Sandigan Bayan). In a column I wrote about the verdict (“No Tears for Estrada”, September 17, 2007), I expressed my regret that the Sandigan Bayan judges never charged Estrada for his role in the abduction and murders of Salvador "Bubby" Dacer, Emmanuel Corbito and Edgar

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-361983219926464792009-09-16T20:39:00.000-07:002009-09-29T20:40:54.366-07:00

Like many procrastinators, I waited until the last day to register to vote for the May 2010 Philippine elections and it almost proved costly. When I got to the Philippine Consulate at 8:30 a.m., I was informed by the security guard that it was closed because August 31 is a national holiday in the Philippines. “National Heroes Day, sir,” the guard explained. “But today is the last day to register

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-72228698809747038862009-09-09T11:49:00.000-07:002009-09-14T11:51:19.660-07:00

Considering that the globe is mired in a major economic crisis which continues to roil its most advanced countries, the Philippines’ economic picture is impressive. Its unemployment rate is hovering around 7% (while the latest US figure is at 9.7%), and its gross national product (GNP) of about $186B recorded a phenomenal 4.5% growth in 2008. Moreover, while the US economy contracted as of the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-32116146889063856962009-09-01T11:51:00.000-07:002009-09-14T12:00:09.301-07:00

Most folks usually associate the word “roast” with cooking either a beast or foul, preferably already dead, with dry heat. But ever since Dean Martin started royally skewering his guests on his TV show in the 1960s, it has also become known as an event where an individual is honored by being affectionately insulted by friends, family and well-wishers.On Sunday, August 23, on the occasion of his

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-91057249191877115182009-08-27T06:54:00.000-07:002009-08-27T06:55:40.490-07:00

If you compare all the Philippine national heroes from Lapu-Lapu to Cory Aquino, it is unlikely that you will find two heroes more uncannily similar, in how they lived and in how they died, than Dr. Jose Rizal and Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.Both came from similar class backgrounds - their families were below hacendero level landed gentry; both studied at the elite Ateneo school; both traveled

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-83697553996534013362009-08-19T10:34:00.000-07:002009-08-19T10:37:22.536-07:00

Many years ago, while I was waiting in line to see the Agatha Christie whodunit, Murder on the Orient Express, a moviegoer who was exiting the theater screamed out “They all did it!” spoiling the suspense. Every year, on the occasion of the anniversary of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino on August 21, people ask: Who ordered the hit? Was it the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos? First Lady Imelda

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-14576094007654287692009-08-12T10:36:00.000-07:002009-08-18T10:38:48.564-07:00

The August 1 death of Corazon Aquino produced an unprecedented show of unity in a historically fragmented nation, with hundreds of thousands of people lining up to personally bid her farewell, from marginalized squatters to high society matrons, from leftist revolutionaries to rightist coup plotters. The one discordant note in the otherwise unified sea of harmony came from Wowowee host Willie

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-57377197331200984322009-08-05T14:20:00.000-07:002009-08-05T14:22:27.502-07:00

When ABC TV reporter Alan Wong asked me what Filipinos lost with the death of former Pres. Corazon Aquino, my immediate response was “our moral compass, our guiding light.” I thought of Cory as Jawaharlal Nehru once said of Mahatma Gandhi, “the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere.” But Nehru also added that “the light that has illumined this country for these many

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-12232077027839752052009-07-30T14:23:00.000-07:002009-08-05T14:25:01.205-07:00

I may have been more prone to emphasize the race aspect of the July 16 arrest of Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates by Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley because of my own personal experience. When I was arrested on February 17, 2003 by two white San Francisco police officers who responded to a 911 call from a white Walgreens manager who thought I might possibly be using a counterfeit $100 bill to

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-5093596630013780232009-07-23T13:55:00.000-07:002009-07-23T13:56:39.273-07:00

Although I met distinguished African American historian and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates about 10 years ago when he was our commencement speaker at City College, I am certain he does not remember me. But he may soon learn about me and my lawsuit against San Francisco police officers when he consults Harvard Law School Prof. Charles Ogletree about suing the Cambridge officer who arrested

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-73543109830650069472009-07-15T13:57:00.000-07:002009-07-23T13:58:46.695-07:00

The US Senate confirmation hearings being held this week on the nomination of Federal Appellate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court has focused the nation’s attention on the issue of race on a multitude of levels. On one level is Sotomayor’s historic position as the first Latina to be nominated to the US Supreme Court. On another level is her decision as an appellate judge to throw out

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-48248814907046867772009-07-08T11:00:00.000-07:002009-07-08T11:01:39.937-07:00

It was as representative a cross-section of the Filipino community as I had ever seen at a protest rally. There were WW II veterans (some in wheelchairs), young school kids, college students, professionals, clerical employees, Republicans, Democrats, even press representatives from both ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel (TFC) and GMA’s Pinoy TV. Among the powerhouse attendees were Greg Macabenta of

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-73958709256622758312009-06-26T10:32:00.000-07:002009-06-26T10:33:31.306-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Greg Macabenta, Baylan Megino and I answered the call of Rudy Asercion, Executive Director of the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center, to attend the public hearing of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 22 to speak out in favor of providing city funding to West Bay, the community non-profit agency that provided services last year to 3500 Filipino families in the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-74537113712702339202009-06-16T02:35:00.000-07:002009-06-27T02:36:33.715-07:00

BOSTON – The most popular misconception about Gawad Kalinga (GK) is that it is just about building homes for the poor, an image that may have been generated by GK’s previously announced goal to build 700,000 homes in 7000 communities throughout the Philippines in 7 years. But the 800 delegates attending the First GK Global Summit (June 12-14, 2009) at the Cambridge suburb of this city harbor no

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-2277622720163367622009-06-12T02:37:00.000-07:002009-06-27T02:37:57.331-07:00

Of the 195 countries existing in the world, whether Christian, Muslim or Buddhist, democracy or dictatorship, only 3 have not formally adopted some form of divorce law - Malta, Vatican City and the Philippines. Included among the vast majority of countries is Italy, the home base of Roman Catholicism, which amended its Civil Code on December 1, 1970 to permit the granting of divorces. Also

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-20254942144539357092009-06-05T10:33:00.000-07:002009-06-05T10:35:00.960-07:00

Because 43-year old gay Pinoy Philip Belarmino was subjected to rapes and repeated sexual harassments as a boy and because the Philippine police are “known to be corrupt” and the Philippine government is “unable to curtail their corruption,” a San Francisco Immigration Judge ruled on May 21, 2009 that Belarmino was entitled to political asylum in the United States. Belarmino, an English professor

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-73037039828859313972009-05-28T11:06:00.000-07:002009-05-28T11:07:22.177-07:00

It was reportedly “imported” from South America as a response to the widespread extra-judicial killings of journalists and activists which have proliferated in the last decade. The Writ of Amparo (Spanish for “protection”) was promulgated by Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno and his associate justices on October 24, 2007 to provide an opportunity for aggrieved parties to seek a

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-91076077890618460362009-05-21T12:42:00.001-07:002009-05-21T12:42:57.921-07:00

Age does not protect you from love, but love, to a certain extent, protects you from age.” This quote from Anais Nin begins Mona Lisa Yuchengco’s extraordinary debut documentary “66 years, 2 months, 21 days… and still counting…” which had its premiere US showing on May 16, 2009 at Skyline College in San Mateo . While the viewers are still digesting the meaning of the quote and trying to guess

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-38900400244734859662009-05-15T11:06:00.001-07:002009-05-15T11:07:51.511-07:00

Filipino American community leaders regularly receive recognition for their initiatives but the many who serve quietly behind the scenes, the ones who really make the community engines run, are barely known and rarely receive any credit. And that’s fine with them because the community’s success is their goal. No one I know personifies this behind-the-scenes Community Cheerleader role more than

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-9301953736995598592009-05-08T16:31:00.000-07:002009-05-08T16:40:40.003-07:00

The historic symbol of justice, Justitia, is depicted as a blindfolded woman carrying a sword in one hand and, on the other, weighing scales to measure the strength and weakness of a case.Over the years, quite a few have asked how a blindfolded person could possibly read the scales of justice. And many have questioned the wisdom of handing a sword over to someone who is blindfolded and who can

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-74200355102488841082009-05-01T10:55:00.000-07:002009-05-01T10:57:09.163-07:00

Nicole (not her real name) is now somewhere in the US on a visa generously provided by the US Embassy, reportedly awaiting the arrival of her US serviceman fiancé to marry her and petition her for a green card. Before she received her US visa, Nicole signed a sworn affidavit on March 12, 2009 prepared by Jose Justiniano, the lawyer of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, exonerating Smith of having raped

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-42761985550065875822009-04-16T10:01:00.001-07:002009-04-16T10:03:27.456-07:00

Although the staggering number shocks the conscience, the issue had received little national media attention until the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) began a three-day public hearing in Davao City on March 30, 2009 on the 814 “extra-judicial killings” that have taken place in this Mindanao city between August 19, 1998 to February 1, 2009.In his April 10, 2009 column, which appeared

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-55090283599643709742009-04-07T13:43:00.000-07:002009-04-07T13:44:34.716-07:00

On the Friday evening before Good Friday, I visited the Jesus is Lord church in Daly City to hear Sarah Balabagan, a Muslim convert to Christianity, describe her ordeal in the Middle East, a traumatic experience that was made into an award-winning film in 1997. Sarah grew up in a poor Muslim family in the town of Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao province. She had thirteen brothers and sisters but

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-18507983599991108762009-04-02T15:00:00.000-07:002009-04-02T15:02:12.447-07:00

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s 2007 conviction for plunder was apparently insufficient to convince former President Cory Aquino to not issue her December 22, 2008 public apology to Estrada for her role in the January 2001 People Power uprising that deposed him. But perhaps Estrada’s recently disclosed role in ordering the execution of his opponents may cause Aquino, a devout Catholic

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-73475397828313521762009-03-26T21:18:00.001-07:002009-03-26T21:18:54.745-07:00

AFTER Joseph "Erap" Estrada was elected president in 1998, he stopped his predecessor's six-year campaign to disband the 560 "private armies" that had proliferated all over the Philippines. Instead, Estrada added one more “private army” to the list - but one that was crafted from within the ranks of the Philippine military establishment, an elite unit that would go after his political enemies and

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-12179402220791967802009-03-23T00:05:00.000-07:002009-03-23T00:07:19.852-07:00

When the news article about my Ninth Circuit loss (“Cops can’t be sued in ‘counterfeit’ arrest”, San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 2009) appeared in the paper's on-line edition (sfgate.com) more than 98 comments were published in the first 24 hours.One of the first comments came from “Akit” who wrote: “Let me get this right... the Walgreens manager used the special marker to prove its

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-78738168672045198652009-03-12T08:32:00.000-07:002009-03-12T08:42:06.564-07:00

Police authorities in countries and societies all over the world have the power to safeguard the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of their citizens and the same awesome power to deprive them of any or all of the above. What essentially separates the police in democracies from their counterparts in totalitarian societies is not their potential for abuse of power but their liability for the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-90741695925494016262009-03-06T10:51:00.001-08:002009-03-06T10:51:50.915-08:00

Rep. Steve Austria (R-Ohio), the lone Filipino American member of the US Congress, told the vast TV viewing audience of ABS-CBN’s Balitang America that he voted against the stimulus bill even though it would allocate $198-M for Filipino WW II veterans because, he said, the money would not go towards stimulating the weak US economy. Instead, Austria said, he wanted a “stand alone” bill that would

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-3001217421928549392009-02-26T11:38:00.000-08:002009-02-26T11:41:54.827-08:00

Even before the details of the $198-M lump sum payment to Filipino WW II veterans could be worked out and disseminated, there were already Filipino critics quick to denigrate the amount as a mere “pittance”. In a radio interview on DZBB in Manila, Philippine Senator Joker Arroyo described the compensation granted to the Filipino veterans as “a pittance” and “too little too late” adding that “we

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-19083423475954852592009-02-18T17:46:00.000-08:002009-02-18T17:48:37.951-08:00

The Filipino veterans’ battle to rescind the Rescission Act of 1946 was not one continuous fight over a 63 year period but rather a battle which occurred in five separate and distinct phases. The first phase occurre d in the months following the passage of the Act on February 18, 1946 during the era wh en the Philippines was still a commonwealth of the US government, still dependent and reliant

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-296795149448918402009-02-11T15:37:00.000-08:002009-02-11T15:43:38.485-08:00

The infamous Rescission Act of 1946 may soon be rescinded if the Filipino veterans equity provision in the stimulus bill that passed the US Senate on February 10, 2009 is retained in the joint Senate-House conference bill that is approved by both Houses of Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. There were approximately 430,000 Filipino WW II veterans who were slated to receive US

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-55426365853745512009-02-03T15:32:00.000-08:002009-02-03T16:55:54.438-08:00

When ABC presented a demeaning image of Philippine-trained doctors in a “Desperate Housewives” episode (September 30, 2007), the Filipino community erupted in outrage and demanded an apology. Because Filipinos rarely appear on national TV, it was feared that the offending episode would cause Americans to view their Philippine-educated physicians in a negative light. That ABC episode is peanuts in

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-59521779238743803652009-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:002009-01-27T13:31:07.646-08:00

My friend's family had to move last September because the owner of the decent-sized home they were renting decided to return to it after being foreclosed on his larger home. Instead of seeking a similar-sized home, however, my friend and his wife decided to downsize. When I asked my friend's son, Joshua, why they had moved to a smaller two-bedroom apartment, he replied: "Oh, because we're

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-28409149599358571542009-01-21T11:20:00.000-08:002009-01-26T11:24:23.051-08:00

Together with more than a million people in Washington DC and billions more around the world, I watched Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the US on January 20, 2009. It was a thrilling historical moment which imbued in me a sense of American-ness that I had rarely felt before.When I am asked who my ancestors are, I readily answer Lapu-Lapu, Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio,

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-39550750984831707072009-01-14T16:40:00.000-08:002009-01-14T16:45:22.557-08:00

Within one week from December 26, 2008 to January 1, 2009, three seemingly disconnected events occurred in which the victims were blamed for their misfortune.In the Philippines, 56-year old Delfin De La Paz took his 18-year old daughter, Bambee, and 14-year old son, Bino, to the golf course to play on the day after Christmas. On that same day20and20time and on that same golf course and almost the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-78121437399064446892009-01-06T13:20:00.000-08:002009-01-06T13:25:16.058-08:00

A man enters a crowded bus in Manila and then, after several stops, politely taps the shoulder of the guy in front of him. "Excuse me sir, but are you related to the Marcos family?" No, no, the man answers. After another stop, the man taps the shoulder again. "Excuse me sir, but are you related to anyone in the Marcos cabinet?” Negative, the guy says. After another stop, the man asks again. “Sir,

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-86830779723200506342008-12-30T10:39:00.000-08:002008-12-30T10:44:39.811-08:00

If convicted plunderer Joseph “Erap” Estrada succeeds in winning re-election to the presidency in the May 2010 elections, the Filipino people can blame President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former president Cory Aquino for this woeful occurrence, Arroyo for granting him an executive clemency on October 24, 2007 and Aquino for her public apology to him on December 22, 2008. Estrada was convicted

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-74655968824166017352008-12-22T12:25:00.000-08:002008-12-22T12:31:45.291-08:00

Former Philippine News publisher Alex Esclamado received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philippine American Press Club (PAPC) last December 20. As Alex was too ill to travel from his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, I had the honor of accepting the award as I have been associated with Alex for more than 28 years including 21 years as a weekly columnist of the Philippine News.In my

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-37204284661015654622008-12-10T12:37:00.000-08:002008-12-10T12:38:24.560-08:00

It is 3 AM, many days after, and my mind still visualizes each round and each pound for pounding that Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao delivered on the hapless face and body of “Golden Boy” Oscar de La Hoya at their December 6 fight in Las Vegas. In the opening round, I see De la Hoya approach the center of the ring, fists on the ready, waiting for the Pacman to lower his guard so he can knock him down

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-82797998128691201642008-12-03T14:01:00.000-08:002008-12-05T14:03:23.047-08:00

A generational divide separated those Filipino Americans who supported and voted for Barack Obama and those who supported and voted for John McCain. While this was certainly not always true, this is what might be concluded from attending a “Kapihan” debate hosted by the Philippine American Press Club (PAPC) in San Francisco last October where all the McCain supporters were over 50 years old while

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-45823781971683593022008-11-25T13:59:00.000-08:002008-11-25T14:09:42.242-08:00

At a recent house party I attended, the lady host remarked that it was a curse to be a Filipino. “My white friends, when they host parties, they only serve one or two main dishes and a lot of crackers and cheese,” she said. “But for Filipinos, we are always expected to serve six, eight or more main dishes.” “It takes so much more time and so much more money to be a Pinoy,” she said with a

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-80907249872077918122008-11-18T11:52:00.000-08:002008-11-18T11:54:49.088-08:00

What do the cities of Vallejo, Daly City, Stockton and Las Vegas have in common? Aside from each being home to a Jollibee Filipino fast-food restaurant, all have large Filipino populations and the highest foreclosure rates in the US.The dirtiest word in the Filipino community now, the new “F” word is foreclosure. While it is affecting all races throughout the US, it is disproportionately

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-62218406117282541522008-11-14T15:53:00.000-08:002008-11-14T15:55:47.368-08:00

Although I received more votes in San Francisco than all the US presidential candidates except Barack Obama combined, they were not nearly enough to win. The biggest difference between this year’s contest and the previous four elections where I won handily was that this year I did not receive the endorsements of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) and the San Francisco

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-70385753360928796312008-11-07T10:46:00.000-08:002008-11-07T10:47:50.714-08:00

When he heard the news on election night on CNN that Barack Obama had just won the presidency, my 17-year old son, Eric, wanted to scream. “I want to call all my friends and celebrate this moment,” he said. He was ecstatic. He was joyous. He felt hopeful. Eric had been gloomy and despondent over the past two months, deeply concerned about whether he and his generation had any hope for their

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-17285900278814785692008-11-04T13:50:00.000-08:002008-11-04T13:52:29.657-08:00

If I had drawn up a list four years ago of who would likely be the next president of the United States , the name Barack Obama would not have been on it. Up until July 27, 2004, I had never even heard of him. But on that day, Illinois State Senator Barack Obama introduced himself to me and to the rest of America when he delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, a speech

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-7911430957529770482008-10-22T11:25:00.001-07:002008-10-22T11:27:13.677-07:00

When I first ran for the San Francisco Community College Board in 1992, I employed a strategy of putting together a list of all the registered Filipino voters in the city - a process of voter extrapolation that included those who listed the Philippines as their place of birth and those with “Filipino sounding” names - and then contacting and connecting with those voters.. After compiling a list

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-84362952688132116162008-10-14T15:36:00.000-07:002008-10-14T15:40:09.315-07:00

The most contentious issue facing San Francisco voters in the November ballot is Proposition H, called the "Clean Energy Act" by its supporters and the "Blank Check Initiative" by its opponents. It seeks to amend San Francisco ’s charter "to require the City to transition from fossil fuels to clean, non-nuclear, sustainable energy production at affordable rates" by purchasing Pacific Gas &

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-48913472617733441772008-10-07T22:47:00.001-07:002008-10-07T22:47:49.269-07:00

This has been a terrible year for Filipino Americans running for public office. On September 22, Hawaii State Senator Ron Menor lost his re-election bid by just 123 votes to little known challenger Michelle Kidani, ending his distinguished 22-year career in state politics. In another contested primary race in Hawaii , House Rep. Alex Sonson lost his bid to unseat State Sen. Clarence Nishihara in

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-33561094290821569792008-09-30T23:04:00.000-07:002008-10-01T23:05:43.689-07:00

The statistics were shocking for a culture that prizes education. The California Standardized Test scores for San Francisco public school students showed that Filipinos in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades have "the highest percentage of students below 'Basic' among other Asian groups and Whites in both English-language Arts and Math, ranging from 19% to 37%." It doesn't get any better. "In the 9th-

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-61982006825007212262008-09-24T13:59:00.000-07:002008-09-24T14:01:23.202-07:00

For the Filipino WW II veterans who were anxiously awaiting a vote on S.1315, September 22 was a roller coaster day on Capitol Hill. The word had gone out to the veterans the Friday before that the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill which had been incorporated in S.1315, the Veterans Benefits’ Enhancement Bill, would finally go for a vote on Monday, on the last week before Congress adjourned for the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-8467671061916564942008-09-16T12:09:00.000-07:002008-09-16T12:13:07.374-07:00

Before Congress adjourned for its August recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assured supporters of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill that she would put S.1315, the Veterans Benefits Enhancement bill, to a vote when Congress resumed its regular session in September. It has been two weeks since then - with less than two weeks left to go before Congress adjourns - and there is still no word as to

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-60794149778816271552008-09-08T14:53:00.000-07:002008-09-08T15:00:01.862-07:00

While there was considerable discussion in cyberspace about the issue of a name change for the Philippines, it was generally limited only to the Filipino chattering class, those folks who regularly express their opinions in various blogs and e-list groups. Most Filipinos are apathetic to this issue partly because it would be at or near the bottom of their list of priorities and partly because of

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-67237825350986994542008-09-03T07:21:00.000-07:002008-09-03T07:25:13.278-07:00

Reader response to my column about a name change for the Philippines was phenomenal. From Mindanao, Kauban M. wrote that Moros prefer Maharlika as “it is the name suited to our culture and character”. A local reader, Joseph Vizcarra, also liked Maharlika “because it pays honor to the advanced indigenous civilization we had before the coming of the Spaniards. It also betrays our Hindu roots as

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-72142758513649263342008-08-26T18:08:00.000-07:002008-08-26T18:09:42.599-07:00

When I visited Manila in January of 2006, a city councilor I knew excitedly informed me that his council had just voted to change the name of the Philippines . What? The country would no longer be named after a ruthless Spanish despot? We would finally be rid of this last vestige of colonialism? Hallelujah!Breathlessly, I asked my friend, Councilor Cassie Sison, to pray tell me what name the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-81667254597921655212008-08-19T16:35:00.000-07:002008-08-19T16:42:13.081-07:00

Was it his fate or faith that led Ninoy Aquino to return back to the Philippines on August 23, 1983 knowing what awaited him upon arrival?Even as he wore a bullet-proof vest, Ninoy Aquino told the journalists accompanying him on China Airlines Flight 811 from Taipei that "you have to be ready with your camera because this action can become very fast...in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes it could be all

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-73719896669155178572008-08-17T19:51:00.000-07:002008-08-17T19:57:21.066-07:00

After 25 years, the question remains unanswered: who ordered the assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino on August 21, 1983?I previously wrote that Ferdinand Marcos was the mastermind because the military precision of the assassination could not have occurred without the knowledge and involvement of Gen. Fabian Ver, who would not have done anything without the Dictator's’ knowledge

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-5158695441660546882008-08-04T14:19:00.000-07:002008-08-04T14:22:56.664-07:00

I had never heard of Fr. Fernando Suarez until a few days ago when I had dinner with a friend from the Philippines who spoke glowingly about him. “He’s the real deal,” he said with full conviction. “I have personally seen him make the blind see and the lame walk.”This friend related that for years he had a stiff neck with a limited range of motion that made it impossible for him to turn his neck

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-43948304500296361922008-07-22T08:18:00.000-07:002008-07-22T08:22:15.870-07:00

My wife, Edna, and I will celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary this week. When we said “I do” to each other back in 1979, there were no guarantees our marriage would last. After all, in California, 50% of all marriages end in divorce so we had a 1 in 2 chance that our marriage would fail. But somehow we beat the odds and we are now just one year shy of a pearl anniversary. Through hard work and

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-42454990063788384772008-07-14T07:58:00.000-07:002008-07-15T08:01:35.097-07:00

ANCHORAGE - The tiny little state of New Hampshire is one up on mighty California. With less than a hundred Pinoys, it has elected a Pinoy state assemblyman which California, with over two million Pinoys, has never quite been able to accomplish. The state rep, Baldwin Domingo, 81 years young, is serving his third term in the New Hampshire State Assembly.I met up with Democratic State Rep. Domingo

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-288682595652236572008-07-08T00:26:00.000-07:002008-07-11T00:27:23.169-07:00

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The land of the midnight sun where the sun doesn’t set until past midnight was the perfect setting for the “25th anniversary” and 12th Biennial Conference of the Filipino American National Historical Society (Fanhs) held at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel from July 3-5, 2008. Only a city with that many daylight hours could accommodate more than 300 delegates from all over the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-72892074471984584192008-07-01T09:45:00.000-07:002008-07-03T09:50:15.121-07:00

About 21 years ago, I wrote a short fable about the Filipino crab which I adapted from a Latino vrsion I heard. The tale was about a man who sold live crabs from his wicker basket at a local open market. As he was answering questions from a customer one day, his crabs began to pile up, one on top of the other, until several were poised to jump off. Although the customer called his attention to

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-80683493809340548472008-06-16T12:19:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:28:03.733-08:00

“No Filipinos or Dogs Allowed” was a common sign that appeared in motels, boarding houses and night clubs in the 1930s in California. While Filipinos have made progress and are now allowed in places where dogs are still not allowed, the California Legislature is one place where dogs and Filipinos are still foreign creatures. Unlike more recent Asian immigrant communities (Vietnamese-Americans,

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-80820052517898818532008-06-09T13:56:00.000-07:002008-06-20T12:24:24.594-07:00

There is an inherent conflict in writing a weekly opinion column, as I have done for the last 20 years, and in being an elected public official in San Francisco, as I have been for the last 17 years. From time to time, I have had to write about certain issues which have offended certain individuals or groups who are San Francisco voters. That goes with the territory.Most recently I wrote two

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-40703812613535257512008-06-04T07:12:00.000-07:002008-06-04T07:16:18.098-07:00

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), the national vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s "point man" on the Filipino veterans equity issue, expressed great disappointment at news of the lack of unity in the Filipino community’s support for S. 1315, which he described as the “last best chance” to get a Filipino veterans equity bill to pass the US Congress. “I can

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-36706589324490231432008-05-24T21:35:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:28:03.988-08:00

It was an emotional roller coaster ride for the Filipino WW II veterans this past week as they rode high hopes that the House version of S.1315 - which incorporates the Filipino veterans' equity bill approved by the US Senate - would come for a floor vote in the House on May 21. The timing would have been perfect coming the week just before Memorial Day when Americans traditionally remember and

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-59843455045166085712008-05-19T14:47:00.000-07:002008-05-20T14:48:55.203-07:00

How will the Philippines survive soaring food prices? Through “birth control at home and friendly ties with the world’s top rice exporters”, according to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a press statement issued on May 10, 2008.Birth control at home? Wow. This was a surprising admission from a president who has consistently rejected 840 million pesos in annual donations of

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-61742095019929696522008-05-12T14:49:00.000-07:002008-05-20T14:51:07.178-07:00

There are close to 4,000 Filipino students enrolled at City College of San Francisco, by far the largest Filipino student body outside the Philippines . Their large presence accounts for why four of the last eight student body presidents at the main Ocean campus have been Filipinos. They are beneficiaries of California 's landmark 1960 Master Plan for Education which transformed educational

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-88551423704186485502008-05-09T23:01:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:28:04.180-08:00

When Pope Benedict XVI delivered a homily at the Nationals Stadium in Washington DC on April 17, 2008, he asked the Catholic faithful to “love your priests, and to affirm them in the excellent work that they do.” A few hundred miles north of that stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, the parishioners of the St. Frances Cabrini Church, led by Frank Cicerale and Anne Carey, are doing exactly what the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-86525365190962809132008-05-01T09:42:00.000-07:002008-05-01T09:45:24.675-07:00

Below is the speech I delivered after receiving the Dr. Jose Rizal Achievement Award at the induction of officers of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC) held on April 25, 2008 in San Francisco. I revised my speech a bit for the column since it was extemporaneous).This award holds special significance to me as my mother was born and raised in Calamba, Laguna, just a short

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-2481595004592806532008-04-21T19:09:00.000-07:002008-04-21T19:10:01.139-07:00

The severe rice shortage that may yet result in food riots in the Philippine has forced the staunchly “Pro-Life” government of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to concede the need to raise public awareness of population control. After years of rejecting United Nations and USAID funding for family planning programs, the government has finally realized that maintaining current levels of rice

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-47488186054971351922008-04-16T07:54:00.000-07:002008-04-16T07:55:44.615-07:00

Russ Sandlin, an American businessman in the Philippines, recently closed his call center in Manila because he said he could not find enough English proficient workers. “Not even 3 percent of the students who graduate college here are employable in call centers,” he complained. Sandlin cited a Philippine Department of Education report disclosing that 80 percent of secondary school teachers in

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-77516339952592313902008-04-08T21:46:00.000-07:002008-04-10T21:48:39.997-07:00

I asked a friend in Manila what he was doing nowadays and he replied that he wasn’t doing much, just waiting for GMA (Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) to fall. I asked him if he was at all concerned about the rice crisis we had been hearing so much about. He said that he thought it was just a ploy used by GMA to divert attention from the many scandals facing her government. The irony is that GMA

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-652615138850756742008-03-31T16:26:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:28:04.385-08:00

It was never a factual issue that William Corpuz murdered his wife, Marisa, in their San Francisco home in September of 2004. Corpuz turned himself in to the police and confessed that he had slashed his wife’s throat with his fishing knife. The legal question was whether he was guilty of murder in the first degree (a mandatory sentence of 26 years to life) or in the second degree (16 years to

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-16300740074071585152008-03-24T16:20:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:28:04.601-08:00

The March 15 Las Vegas rematch of Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez for the Super Featherweight Championship of the World turned out to be every bit as “Super” as it was hyped up to be. Two evenly-matched gladiators fought toe-to-toe for 12 rounds, fighting with all the power and heart they could muster. In the end, though both were bloodied but unbowed, Pacquiao won a

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-83239017015430559072008-03-22T15:31:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:28:04.967-08:00

Flor R. Contemplacion, a 42- year old Filipina domestic worker mother of four, was executed in Singapore on March 17, 1995 for the murders of domestic worker Delia Maga and her four year old ward, Nicholas Huang. Just before her execution, however, two Filipino witnesses came forward with evidence that Huang's father framed Contemplacion after killing Maga in a fit of rage when he found his

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-89747632939729795072008-03-12T12:00:00.000-07:002008-03-12T12:01:23.421-07:00

The 22nd anniversary of People Power came and went on February 25 without commemoration by a single US newspaper editorial. I googled the Internet and found none. But while googling, I stumbled on a March 9, 2008 editorial in the Arab News, the “Middle East's Leading English Language Daily,” commenting on People Power in an editorial entitled “What’s Best for the Philippines.”The 30-year old

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-56625635627629824742008-03-04T21:07:00.000-08:002008-03-04T21:10:16.167-08:00

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) had been considered a loyal ally of the United States until July of 2004 when she “caved in” to the Iraqi hostage-takers’ demands to withdraw the Philippine government’s 51 soldiers and police officers from Iraq a month early, in exchange for the release of Filipino hostage Angelo De La Cruz. In directing the Philippines to be the 5th country to withdraw

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-29434152774341996522008-02-26T23:36:00.000-08:002008-12-12T00:28:05.158-08:00

Two months ago, I proposed to the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) that the association which advocates for the Filipino WW II veterans should direct its 12 regional chapters to each sponsor local activities to mark the 62nd anniversary of the infamous Rescission Act of February 19, 1946. The purpose - to highlight the law that stripped Filipino veterans of the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-21440570502642590222008-02-15T00:35:00.000-08:002008-12-12T00:28:05.419-08:00

WASHINGTON DC – The Filipino WW II veterans’ long struggle to rescind the Rescission Act of 1946 faces a major bar in this presidential election year. “The Filipino veterans are unfortunately caught in the crosshairs of the anti-immigrant, anti-foreigner mindset of the Republicans,” a veteran Capitol Hill lobbyist observed.It's a totally different political climate from last year when the

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-3045871714423342492008-02-13T08:32:00.000-08:002008-12-12T00:28:05.541-08:00

By Felix AnteroSAN FRANCISCO - The five-year-old case of the $100 bill tendered by Filipino American lawyer Rodel Rodis which a Walgreens manager and San Francisco police officers mistakenly thought was counterfeit may yet wind up in the US Supreme Court. This developed after the San Francisco City Attorney's Office on February 11 filed a writ with the US Supreme Court appealing the Ninth Circuit

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7264907400280360459.post-13757089391285124252008-02-11T20:45:00.000-08:002008-02-12T06:29:22.262-08:00

Filipino Americans are part of the broader Asian American group that constitutes 6% of the US population. Filipino American Catholics (85% of Filipinos are Catholics), however, are part of the larger US Catholic community that constitutes more than 25% of the registered voters in the country. That bit is also the largest group of swing voters in the US and is especially significant because

Rodel E. Rodishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16816176911506059289noreply@blogger.com0