HUNDREDS MARCHED FOR JUSTICE,EQUITY AND PEACE ON VETERANS DAY IN LA (tags)
The 3-mile long march began at around 10;45 Am. With the student groups like Kappa Psi Epsilon, Chi Rho , XPO, TBD, Samahang Pilipino at UCLA, Kababayan of UC Irvine. Katipunan UC Riverside, CalPoly BARKADA, FASA from CSUN, Long Beach PAC, San Marcos, Andres Bonifacio Samahan from San Diego,SDSU to mention a few leading the way. They were joined by student activist groups from Pro People Youth KMB, ANSWER-LA, BANTAY PILIPINAS-USA, EPCC, AJLPP, the EFJPP while ve veterans and widows from the Society of Guerilla and Scouts (SGS), United Filipino American Veterans (UFAV), VFP-UC Chapter, AWARE-LA, Seniors for PACE (SPACE ) rode in the vehicles. Big streamers calling for recognition, justice and equity as well as immigrant rights were very prominent. Filipino, AJLPP and KMB flags flew high and proud during the march. The youth and advocates shouted slogans all the way.
San Mateo Congresswoman Speier to Introduce New Equity Bill (tags)
In an effort to keep the fight for full equity alive, Filipino veterans and their advocates met with United States Congresswoman Jackie Speier in her San Mateo office last Friday. After the meeting, the veterans and their advocates felt they found a champion in Speier, a Democrat running for reelection in California’s 12th District. In an exclusive interview with Balitang America, Speier said, “In January of next year, if I’m reelected, I’m going to introduce a bill that would give all Filipino veterans from World War II the same equal rights for benefits. That means the veterans will receive pensions and their widows and heirs will receive these benefits should they pass away.”
LETTER TO REP. SPEIER, 12 D-CA (tags)
Thank you for your public announcement of your support for equity! I would like to properly address your questions during our meeting last Friday, July 16th in your district office in my attempt to further elucidate the case of equity for Filipinos and provide an educational tool for your fellow legislators and the American public as we further gather support now for your anticipated sponsorship of a bill on January of 2011.
AJLPP Forces Commemorates 112th Independence Day in the United States (tags)
On the anniversary of the 112th Independence Day from Spanish colonialism, June 12, 1898, the Alliance-Philippines and its allies commemorated the day of struggle in different cities of the United States in different forms. From San Francisco in the north to Los Angles in the south, and from New York in the east to Chicago in the Midwest different groups allied with or allies of AJLPP commemorated June 12 with renewed strength.
The Filipino American community send a letter to President Barack Obama on his first day in office, January 20, 2009. The letter to Obama was discussed and written by less than a hundred Filipino American composed of community leaders, Balitang America viewers and experts on the economy, immigration, and Filipino World War II veterans and their advocates in a community town hall meeting last December 10, 2008. The letter was read again in a broadcast yesterday, January 20, 2009 at the ABS -CBN Filipino Channel with a more than 300,000 subecribers and more than six million viewers.
FILAMS HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETING, WRITES OBAMA (tags)
Less than a hundred Filipino American composed of community leaders, Balitang America viewers and experts on the economy, immigration, and Filipino World War II veterans and their advocates held a year end-Community town hall meeting last December 10, 2008 and after a spirited discussion read a letter to be sent to the President –elect Barack Obama who will assume office on January 20, 2009.
It's make-or-break for Pinoy vets' bill (tags)
World War II veteran Guillermo Rumingan had a teleconference with other veterans and their supporters and plotted what could be the last chapter of a historic run to push the Filipino Veterans’ Equity Bill. From Hawaii to California to Washington State to Virginia, they weighed their options that seemed to thin with each passing hour. After a triumphant 96-1 Senate vote to pass S-1315, which contained provisions for Filipino veterans’ equity, the bill is now stalled in the House of Representatives. Although the 110th Congress is scheduled to hold sessions until the last week of September, veterans activists are looking at the week beginning August 4 as the last window to realize an over 60-year-old dream. If nothing happens by then, all the historic gains achieved this year will come to naught. They had an appointment with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, but she was not available and only one of her staff members faced the veterans led by Eric Lachica, executive director of the Virginia-based American Coalition of Filipino Veterans. "She wanted 290 sure votes for S-1315," Rumingan told ABS-CBN’s Balitang America.