ok, so just as the procrastinating person said in the chis box, the philippines did indeed destroy malaysia in baseball 38-0 in the 23rd southeast asian games (sea games). this was largely due to the philippines scoring twenty-two runs in the second inning. you can read more about it here.
according to the medal count here, at the time of this post the philippines leads all countries with 57 gold medals, 36 silver, and 45 bronze.
now the games are being held in the philippines this year. in 2003 vietnam held the games and came away with the most gold medals (150). the philippines didn't accuse vietnam of cheating during that year....
so now the philippines is leading in the gold medal count, and the thai premier thaksin had this to say:
"I have been following the SEA Games closely and believe that the Games should exist to help athletes lift their standards...It should not be about winning gold medals...the organizer aims only to favor its own athletes."
jaruk areerajakaran, secretary-general of thailand’s olympic committee, also had this to say:
"It is hard to win in the Games since the hosts are cheating."
joey romasanta, spokesperson of the philippine olympic committee, fired back in reply:
"It is premature for the Prime Minister to suggest that we are favoring our athletes. It is too early in the SEA Games. He should not have said that...So far we have had only wu shu and tae kwon do, where human judgment has been involved. But all of you saw how our athlete Criselda Roxas lost to a Thai in the tae kwon do finals Tuesday. So how can we be favoring our own performers?”
more about this here.
since i can't watch the games from here, i wouldn't know which side is right. nevertheless, it's a good thing that the philippines is doing well in these games, which for rather complex reasons (which i can't go into right now) does not include the most popular sport in the philippines, basketball, this year.
these results may cause one to ask....if the philippines is doing so well in these games, why not the olympics?
the philippines didn't get a single medal in athens, and have never scored a gold medal in its history (although onyok velasco came close in atlanta).
who will be the first one? when?
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
on the issue of full equity for filipino veterans of the second world war
on friday, november 11 (from 9am-5pm) people's core and justice for filipino-american veterans will hold the 5th annual veterans day parade and march for recognition, justice, and full equity for filipino veterans of the second world war. tp will send a group to take part in this parade. if you are free early friday morning, i strongly encourage you to join us.
---
so if you went to the veteran's panel meeting on october 27 you should already know how important this issue is for the filipino veterans and the filipino-american community. but for the rest of you, here's a brief overview.....
during the second world war, an estimated 200,000 filipinos served under the united states flag. they risked their lives and suffered through many atrocities such as the bataan death march to defend/retake the philippines and ultimately fought for a united states victory. you'd figure that fighting alongside american soldiers and suffering through the same atrocities as they did, the filipino veterans would receive the same u.s. veteran's benefits as everyone else would; however, this was not to be the case.
the 1946 recission act deprived the filipino world war ii veterans from these benefits. among the foreign u.s. veterans of 66 countries, the the veterans from the philippines were the only ones denied these benefits. many of the filipino veterans have not received these benefits to this day.
recently some progress has been made. you can read more about the following from an la times article written by richard simon here. in 2003 a measure was passed that "extends full war-related disability pension and burial benefits to about 100 filipino veterans and 400 soldiers' widows living in the united states. they previously received benefits at half the rate paid to u.s. veterans" (simon). another passed measure in 2003 extended "veterans affairs health benefits to an estimated 7,000 surviving filipino world war ii veterans living in the united states" (simon).
this is good progress, but the fight is far from over. the filipino veterans are still fighting for...
"a broader package of U.S. veterans' benefits, including full access to VA health care for the estimated 21,000 Filipino World War II veterans living in the Philippines. They also seek pensions for low-income veterans: up to $800 a month for those living in the United States and $100 a month for those in the Philippines." (simon)
today there are 2 bills in congress addressing this issue, hr 302 and s 146.
currently these bills have been read and referred to the committee of veteran's affairs. if these bills are passed all filipino veterans will finally have the full equity that they have been unjustly denied. the bills, however, face a long and hard road to passage primarily due to a congress that is trying to cut the budget deficit and deal with iraq and social security at the same time.
--
despite the importance of this issue there is not enough awareness about it amongst the filipino-american community and the mainstream populace. the veteran's day parade march hopes to raise that awareness.
again, the parade is on friday, november 11, starting at 9am at historic filipinotown. if you're free and haven't left for weekender yet, i strongly encourage you to come.
here's a link to the american coalition for filipino veterans site for more information about the issue.
---
so if you went to the veteran's panel meeting on october 27 you should already know how important this issue is for the filipino veterans and the filipino-american community. but for the rest of you, here's a brief overview.....
during the second world war, an estimated 200,000 filipinos served under the united states flag. they risked their lives and suffered through many atrocities such as the bataan death march to defend/retake the philippines and ultimately fought for a united states victory. you'd figure that fighting alongside american soldiers and suffering through the same atrocities as they did, the filipino veterans would receive the same u.s. veteran's benefits as everyone else would; however, this was not to be the case.
the 1946 recission act deprived the filipino world war ii veterans from these benefits. among the foreign u.s. veterans of 66 countries, the the veterans from the philippines were the only ones denied these benefits. many of the filipino veterans have not received these benefits to this day.
recently some progress has been made. you can read more about the following from an la times article written by richard simon here. in 2003 a measure was passed that "extends full war-related disability pension and burial benefits to about 100 filipino veterans and 400 soldiers' widows living in the united states. they previously received benefits at half the rate paid to u.s. veterans" (simon). another passed measure in 2003 extended "veterans affairs health benefits to an estimated 7,000 surviving filipino world war ii veterans living in the united states" (simon).
this is good progress, but the fight is far from over. the filipino veterans are still fighting for...
"a broader package of U.S. veterans' benefits, including full access to VA health care for the estimated 21,000 Filipino World War II veterans living in the Philippines. They also seek pensions for low-income veterans: up to $800 a month for those living in the United States and $100 a month for those in the Philippines." (simon)
today there are 2 bills in congress addressing this issue, hr 302 and s 146.
currently these bills have been read and referred to the committee of veteran's affairs. if these bills are passed all filipino veterans will finally have the full equity that they have been unjustly denied. the bills, however, face a long and hard road to passage primarily due to a congress that is trying to cut the budget deficit and deal with iraq and social security at the same time.
--
despite the importance of this issue there is not enough awareness about it amongst the filipino-american community and the mainstream populace. the veteran's day parade march hopes to raise that awareness.
again, the parade is on friday, november 11, starting at 9am at historic filipinotown. if you're free and haven't left for weekender yet, i strongly encourage you to come.
here's a link to the american coalition for filipino veterans site for more information about the issue.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
on thanksgiving in the philippines
ok, sorry about not updating this for a while; midterms and papers have been taking most of my time.
anyway, here's the article i wrote for the november issue of the alam mo ba, due out today.
Filipinos in the Philippines don't really celebrate Thanksgiving in late November like the people in the United States do. Actually, many Filipinos aren't really aware of when Thanksgiving is actually celebrated in the Philippines.
Thanksgiving in the Philippines is celebrated on September 21. There were other dates that were considered to celebrate Thanksgiving before the decision to make it the 21st was made. When Prof. Gabriel Fabella succeeded in changing the day of celebrating Philippine Independence from July 4 to June 12, he also proposed that July 4 become Thanksgiving Day in the Philippines. But that never happened.
The decision to celebrate Thanksgiving on 9/21 came in 1974, when President Marcos declared it a "national thanksgiving day". This was also the anniversary of his declaration of martial law; many think he declared Thanksgiving on this day in an attempt to conceal the repressive character of his dictatorship.
Perhaps it's the fact that it was Marcos who declared the 21st Thanksgiving that not too many people know about it or celebrate it. Nevertheless, Filipinos show thanksgiving all the time through the multitudes of festivals held in different parts of the country throughout the year. Here's a couple of examples:
So even if Filipinos in general don't really know when Thanksgiving is formally celebrated in the Philippines, there are a ton of festivals happening throughout the year that essentially do the job that Thanksgiving does here--all in unique ways.
Besides, around this time of year, Filipinos are already playing Christmas tunes on the radio.
anyway, here's the article i wrote for the november issue of the alam mo ba, due out today.
Filipinos in the Philippines don't really celebrate Thanksgiving in late November like the people in the United States do. Actually, many Filipinos aren't really aware of when Thanksgiving is actually celebrated in the Philippines.
Thanksgiving in the Philippines is celebrated on September 21. There were other dates that were considered to celebrate Thanksgiving before the decision to make it the 21st was made. When Prof. Gabriel Fabella succeeded in changing the day of celebrating Philippine Independence from July 4 to June 12, he also proposed that July 4 become Thanksgiving Day in the Philippines. But that never happened.
The decision to celebrate Thanksgiving on 9/21 came in 1974, when President Marcos declared it a "national thanksgiving day". This was also the anniversary of his declaration of martial law; many think he declared Thanksgiving on this day in an attempt to conceal the repressive character of his dictatorship.
Perhaps it's the fact that it was Marcos who declared the 21st Thanksgiving that not too many people know about it or celebrate it. Nevertheless, Filipinos show thanksgiving all the time through the multitudes of festivals held in different parts of the country throughout the year. Here's a couple of examples:
- The Ati-Atihan festival in Kalibo, Panay (3rd weekend of January) is like a Filipino "Mardi Gras"; it celebrates thanksgiving and the anniversary of the sale of Panay island to Malaysian immigrants from the Ati tribespeople.
- The Carabao Festival (feast of San Isidro) is held on May 15 in the farming towns of San Isidro, Pulilan, and Angono (all north of Manila). A parade is held on this day to give thanks and pay homage to the carabao, "the farmer's best friend."
- The Hari-Raya Puasa is a thanksgiving feast among the Muslim communities in the Philippines. This commemorates Ramadan--the 29-day Muslim fast--and is a fast-breaking holiday. It is held on the first day of the ninth lunar month in the Muslim calendar (changes every year--this year the fast began on early October).
So even if Filipinos in general don't really know when Thanksgiving is formally celebrated in the Philippines, there are a ton of festivals happening throughout the year that essentially do the job that Thanksgiving does here--all in unique ways.
Besides, around this time of year, Filipinos are already playing Christmas tunes on the radio.
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