^off tommorow sa trabaho

more like a book. paints a pretty bad picture of the philippines.

but it does look at some of the things that i sometimes refuse to look at, and at the least, it has challenged me to commit to this country more. after reading those articles, i felt a bit down but then again, it makes me see that there are many things that can be done. healing only comes when we have recognized where we are and what are current troubles are.

that aside, i have learned a lot reading those articles. and as dancethingy has said, our history is rich and it makes me understand of why i am a filipino. i remembered being in a philippine history class (1900 to present) in college and feeling down after those classes because of what has been unearthed but then it has given me hope that we can still change it (that it is not the end of the story). in this, my being filipino has taken root (nagkaroon ng pagkaugat) and despite all the turmoil, i still remain hopeful.

I don't mean that the picture is wrong , I acknowledge these problems exist and we should do something about them (and we are but it doesn't seem to show any of that)

what I do mean is that it's a special on the Philippines and focuses mostly on it's social problems. It's editorial so their call. But if you read this thing and are not filipino and have no knowledge of the Philippines as 99% of the nonfilipino world does you will get an impression that it's not very different from the very poor countries in africa, south asia, etc. And this is not the case at all.

It's the very reason many people come here and and are surprised when they get to Manila and have a samba chocolate torte in Bizu' (quite good actually) or party in cebu for the sinulog they say" I thought the Philippines was such a poor country". One only needs to read the comments of many forumers in the rate our city section or ctc in this site to see how divergent many peoples views are from what they imagine when the word Philippines comes up to the actual pictures of skyscrapers they see. (usual shock or surprise that's it's not all coconuts and palm trees with sexy natives who like housework and dying children) While I'm not saying we're well off , this is not a failed state, where people are dying of starvation and disease. BUT this series of articles while not wrong will give that impression (that we're no better than the sudan or laos). And it surely wont help interest tourists to come here.

That's a true observation Bustero and I agree with you. There is very slanted view of the Philippines throughout the world. That is a result of many things and it's sad to say that some Filipinos do add to the problem by discouraging others about our country.

Also, if you think about it Bustero, isn't it intersting that the vast gap between what people think of the philippines is also reflected by the vast gap in socioeconomic levels. It all depends really on what tourists see while they are here. Some people will see Greenbelt or Ayala Alabang and say wow this is forward looking advanced society. Some people will see the informal settlers of manila and feel say the opposite. Some people, those who are more keen explorers, will see both sides of the fence and see a society diminished by the vast gap between the haves and the have nots.

i do agree with that. for people who don't know, it really is difficult convincing them to visit the country. when i talked with a relative in sfo, she was hesitant to go home this december due to the rallies that she saw on tv. but i told her that things are okay here and the rallies are only pocket rallies. i bet that she would be surprised when she arrives here in a couple of months.

anyway, i find it to be a good thing that somebody wrote about it.

Gosh, i think that some balikbayans are just so MAARTE, you know, talagang sobrang MAARTE.
I have a cousin in Michigan who refuses to come because she's very mestiza and "American looking," so she might get kidnapped. I think she has a greater chance of being mugged in Detroit than here. Geez!

i posted this in another thread:

i have this friend, si ate .... she worked as a dh sa singapore noon. decided to apply as a caregiver sa canada. the thing is, she was adviced by the agency who handled her application to include her family meaning she is single. so tweng tweng, fast forward, naging canadian citizen na sya, she tried to sponsor her family. bad news, she got denied dahil falsification of public documents, etc. she appealed, same thing. she was downhearted dahil walang pag-asang madala nya ang pamilya nya dito sa canada. her son had to apply as a caregiver para lang makapunta dito sa canada.

moral lesson of the story, declare everbody in your family kahit wala kayong planong dalhin kagad ang inyong pamilya when applying as an immigrant or anything, and best of all, answer truthfully dahil some embassies do checks.

For all you future Pinoy Brits!

================================================================


UK Government to start citizenship test for immigrants Monday October 31

LONDON (Reuters) - Immigrants who want to become British citizens will have to show a knowledge of the country's customs and history if they are to pass new compulsory tests unveiled by the government on Monday.

The 45-minute "Life in the UK" tests, which all applicants must sit from Tuesday, require immigrants to answer 24 multiple questions about British life ranging from knowledge of the Queen to regional dialects.

The tests, which cost 34 pounds and can be taken at about 90 centres across the country, come on top of a need for new citizens to demonstrate a working knowledge of English.

"An understanding of the British language and our way of life is vital," said Immigration minister Tony McNulty.

"The measures we are introducing today will help new citizens to gain a greater appreciation of the civic and political dimension of British citizenship and, in particular, to understanding the rights and responsibilities that come with ... British citizenship."

Example questions include "Which TWO telephone numbers can be used to dial the emergency services? 112, 123, 555, 999".

The correct answers are 112 and 999.

Those who fail the test will not be able to apply to be citizens and will have to take it again.

The Immigration Advisory Service, a charity that advises immigrants and asylum seekers, gave the tests a cautious welcome but said the questions needed "a light touch".

"The danger is that this will be seen as a way of excluding people from British citizenship," said chief executive Keith Best.

"The perversity of our education system is such that new immigrants who seek naturalisation may end up having more knowledge about life in the UK through these tests and their associated teaching than many who are born British citizens."

The concept of citizenship tests have been controversial ever since Norman Tebbit, a leading lieutenant of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, suggested a "cricket test", under which immigrants could only be classified as British if they cheered for the England cricket team.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, told BBC radio he was opposed to a test but said immigrants should be encouraged to develop skills to integrate into society.

He added that the people "most attached to Britishness" in the whole population were ethnic minorities living in England.

"To them it means fairness and equality and it means not being bullied because of your race or colour," he said.

"Secondly it's about the British tradition of individuality, that is to say you don't have to conform to someone else's idea of what being British might look like."

^^ That is not so unlike the US immigration tests where the naturalized citizens end up knowing more about US history, government, politics and civis than natural-born Americans.

same with the canadian citizenship. the newcomers takes the citizenship test seriously and are proud of their newly-acquired status. the oathtaking ceremony is a bit emotional moment for some, and teary-eyed during the programme.

For all you future Pinoy Brits!

================================================================


UK Government to start citizenship test for immigrants Monday October 31

LONDON (Reuters) - Immigrants who want to become British citizens will have to show a knowledge of the country's customs and history if they are to pass new compulsory tests unveiled by the government on Monday.

The 45-minute "Life in the UK" tests, which all applicants must sit from Tuesday, require immigrants to answer 24 multiple questions about British life ranging from knowledge of the Queen to regional dialects.

The tests, which cost 34 pounds and can be taken at about 90 centres across the country, come on top of a need for new citizens to demonstrate a working knowledge of English.

"An understanding of the British language and our way of life is vital," said Immigration minister Tony McNulty.

"The measures we are introducing today will help new citizens to gain a greater appreciation of the civic and political dimension of British citizenship and, in particular, to understanding the rights and responsibilities that come with ... British citizenship."

Example questions include "Which TWO telephone numbers can be used to dial the emergency services? 112, 123, 555, 999".

The correct answers are 112 and 999.

Those who fail the test will not be able to apply to be citizens and will have to take it again.

The Immigration Advisory Service, a charity that advises immigrants and asylum seekers, gave the tests a cautious welcome but said the questions needed "a light touch".

"The danger is that this will be seen as a way of excluding people from British citizenship," said chief executive Keith Best.

"The perversity of our education system is such that new immigrants who seek naturalisation may end up having more knowledge about life in the UK through these tests and their associated teaching than many who are born British citizens."

The concept of citizenship tests have been controversial ever since Norman Tebbit, a leading lieutenant of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, suggested a "cricket test", under which immigrants could only be classified as British if they cheered for the England cricket team.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, told BBC radio he was opposed to a test but said immigrants should be encouraged to develop skills to integrate into society.

He added that the people "most attached to Britishness" in the whole population were ethnic minorities living in England.

"To them it means fairness and equality and it means not being bullied because of your race or colour," he said.

"Secondly it's about the British tradition of individuality, that is to say you don't have to conform to someone else's idea of what being British might look like."


***********

ang daming OA... kahit anong gawin nila Racist parin ang briton.. pahihirapan pa kami...hmp!

^^ Prove them wrong by excelling and rising above the fray, that would shut them up and see you in a much different light. :okay:

hehehe, their laws not yours.

Philippines Without Borders; UCLA visiting scholar's online distance-learning program brings new perspectives to cultural study of the Philippines.
By Angilee Shah

Priscelina Patajo-Legasto asked a roomful of UCLA students, many of whom were of Filipino descent, "Who should constitute the Filipino nation?" The complexity of this question, she explained, is what she hopes Filipiniana Online, a virtual course offered by the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOP), can begin to address.

Legasto gave a presentation about Filipiniana Online to UCLA students and faculty on Oct. 25 in an event sponsored by the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

The Philippines' colonial history, from Spanish to American rule, and the prevalence of Filipino citizens living and working outside of the country make defining the Philippines very difficult.

"In the next few years, one-third of Filipinos will be in the diaspora," Legasto says. "But when they're here in America or Canada, they still have an understanding of what it means to be Filipino."

Legasto has a long list of projects and interests. She was a dean at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOP) for three years and has edited or written for over twenty publications. She is a board member of the Philippine Studies Association and of the Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators and edits the Diliman Review.

Now she wants her teaching of literature, theater, and feminist and Marxist theory to have an impact on those studying the Philippines from the United States and elsewhere. So far, the success of Filipiniana Online has been to bring high-level course work to Filipinos in remote locations in that country. The next course should also allow students from around the globe to engage with her and other scholars of Filipino culture.

"What I'm trying to do is open the discourse to people beyond the boundaries" of the Philippines, she explains.

The online course was conceived in 1998, the centennial of the Philippine Republic—a fitting time for the nation to ask, or, as Legasto says, "problematize" the question "What is Filipino?"

Filipiniana Online was last offered in October 2003 for the University of the Philippine's spring semester, with Legasto at the helm. The course covered "heterogenous articulations of what is Filipino," she says. Course materials include the Filipinana Reader; the Filipinana CD-ROM, a multimedia archive of art and music; and the Filipiniana Digital Library, a guide to Filipino culture on the web. The virtual classroom is UPOP's Integrated Virtual Learning Environment.

Online discussions took place via the "Filipiniana Cafe," an electronic mail list for course participants to read and post to. Each section of the course was led by a Philippines expert in a given field—the literature section by UP Professor Neil Garcia, noted poet and literary theorist; the section on popular culture by Soledad Reyes, a prominent scholar from Ateneo de Manila University.

"It's like a production number because you have to coordinate with different professors," explains Legasto, an expert on Phillipine theater.

From the northernmost island of the Cordilleras to the Mindanao in the south, Filipino students brought in varied perspectives on what constitutes Filipiniana, says Legasto. The online discussion, Legasto hopes, will soon become and international one, bringing together Filipino diaspora from around the globe.

The course can be taken by anyone who has reliable Internet access, and graduate students enrolled in colleges or universities can earn three units. The fee for this sixteen-week course is 4,000 Philippine pesos (under US$75). Legasto hopes UPOP will offer the course again in next year's summer or spring semester and also create a credit-bearing course for undergraduates. In particular, she hopes to enroll students who are considering studying abroad as well as UC alumni who want to continue learning.

Those interested in the course may contact her via email at priscelina.legasto@up.edu.ph.

On Photo albums, vanishing borders and resisting exile
By Michael Baradi - November 2005

"You cannot claim to have really seen something until you have photographed it." - Emile Zola

Emile Zola's conception of photography offers some insight why my desire to visit the Philippines, after twenty years of being an immigrant in the United States, has not been as strong as the rest of my family. The images I see from pictures of my family and relatives in the Philippines, inserted in letters over the years have become, to me, a form of return to the Philippines, because these images now constitute not as representations but as reality itself.

That's why when my parents petitioned my maternal grandparents to come to the United States, their arrival at LAX in 1992, at least to me, was not a big surprise; my eyes had grown accustomed to their physical transformations recorded in letters and pictures exchanged over the years. These letters also contained other colorful, glossy pictures of graduations, weddings, baptisms, and especially of Christmas parties, from both sides of the Pacific Ocean. My mother has been faithfully collecting these overseas pictures in her ever-growing archive of thick family albums, carefully labeled by year; she has been doing this long before my family's arrival in the United States in the mid-1980s.

My family has an almost obsessive relationship with the camera, with the act of excessively taking pictures. We're not particularly too interested in video cameras and moving-images. Our primary interest is the production of still images of ourselves, family portraits and solo shots, those we can easily keep in photo albums or send to friends and relatives. Thus, because of this family habit, I see my own physical transformations, over the years, of constantly but unconsciously experimenting on personal fashion and hairstyles, experimentations that can suggest an ever-evolving search for some kind of personal image or perhaps, to some extent, some elusive and illusive American or Filipino-American self I could appropriate to ground myself in America.

But recently, a co-worker and friend, who is also Filipino-American, has told me that she finds the Filipino obsession of taking too-many pictures morbid. I told her a neutral feedback that this obsession is a cultural thing. Later, I wondered about her comment. She has pathologized a cultural habit. Although I felt slightly insulted about her comment, I somehow understood where her comment was coming from. Many times in the past, when my family takes pictures excessively in public, I'd become self-conscious when people give us a mixture of approving, disapproving, and curious stares. But why the less positive stares: is there something wrong in the way we take pictures, our body language perhaps, do we call attention to ourselves when we do this, not discrete enough? No doubt, elements of racism are already deployed in these less positive looks. But surely, we live in an age in which, whatever your racial affiliation is, the desire to take pictures of ourselves or, more so, America's sense of photo-narcissism, has been exponentially heightened to morbid levels as camera technology continue to advance, especially in the name of entertainment and as instruments against the forces of terrorism. What exactly does my friend mean by morbid? I'd like to consider her comment as an issue of racial pride, of making a cultural habit a flaw. Writing about the epistemology of Philippine nationalism in the 19th century through photography, Vicente Rafael has declared that "a history of photography in the Philippines is yet to be written" (148); I could not agree more.

Both my maternal grandparents - my Lolo and Lola - passed away this year, 2005, and are now laid to rest at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn. Visiting twice from the Philippines for the funerals, my aunt kept asking me when I will visit the Philippines. Although I offered neither a yes or no answer, my responses were always vague 'whens'. But she would ignore my vague answers and lure me with images of progress and developments in the city my family had once lived before leaving for Los Angeles: Cagayan de Oro. In our conversations, I could empathize with the sadness in her face and voice that perhaps I will never ever visit the Philippines again, that I have forgotten its culture and traditions, because my identity's cultural orientation and compass is now American. But as her eldest nephew, I also sensed in her sadness that my lack of interest to visit the islands is a form of separation from our close-knit family and can, therefore, be considered a transgression of a moral obligation, on my part, that, even though America is home to me now, I should visit the islands at least once, soon. But then, to me, the idea of being American has always been a loose, tricky, and arguable concept, especially in the context of the Filipino imagination living in the age of globalization, because there are millions of Filipinos in the Philippines who think and feel as American as Filipinos who have now become Filipino-Americans or simply Americans.

Now if, according to area and postcolonial studies theories, a nation is, in essence, an imagined community and is, therefore, about people, then, the Philippines is alive in my neck of the woods in America, in Los Angeles. Filipino culture and sensibilities are preserved in a variety of Filipino-owned restaurants, large grocery-store chains, bakeries, hair salons, video stores, and other businesses that cater to a large Filipino and Filipino-American population in a number of sections of the Los Angeles County. The Seafood City grocery chain, which I frequently patronize, has branches in Los Angeles, West Covina, and Panorama City. And, too, numerous Catholic and Protestant churches around Los Angeles offer services for their Filipino and Filipino-American congregations. Now and then I attend services at a predominantly Filipino-American Methodist church. And about thrice a week, I breakfast a $1.50 bag of hot pan de sal from Valerio's Family Bakeshop, down the street, on the corner of Santa Monica and Vermont. Indeed, the strength of Filipino presence in Los Angeles suggests that, in ethnically-diverse Southern California, the Philippines has found another geographic home, albeit one that isn't defined by tangible borders.

In some ways, Walter Benjamin's view of photography anticipates the ease in reproducing and archiving digital images that populate and clog today's information superhighway divisoria. My family still continues to send and receive pictures of relatives from the Philippines and from other parts of the globe less and less by air-mail but rather as email attachments. But reserving a flight to visit the Philippines anytime soon continues to be a weak desire for me; the Philippines as a geography often competes with the Philippines in my memory and imagination as a vibrant idea, a cosmopolitan space, rich in history, globally grounded, and perpetually ironic, in my heart.

half-pinoy born and raised in HK :)

^^ and your mom is from melaka in malaysia?

half-pinoy born and raised in HK :)
where in hong kong? PM me.

^bat yayain mo sa vietnam

^^^tigs lalabas kami, maraming gimik sa hk.

dhoyax, it's obvious :) Wan Chai :)

^^ and your mom is from melaka in malaysia?

Right :)

funny i always thought wanch was a boy. So is araneta a girl too?

dhoyax, it's obvious :) Wan Chai :)
hehehe......how about lan kwai fung?

Wanch is male. He is in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. (Did I get that info right?) I've seen lots of his pictures in other threads. Very prolific and interesting forumer/poster. It's only now that I found out that Wanch is half pinoy. I very much like it. :)

^^ sayang.......boy pala.....kala ko girl....hehehe

Haha, Dhoyax talaga. Half-pinoy, not pinay.

Kaya pala hindi pa sumasagot nandoon pa sa Shopping Paradise.

Ok ok ok, I'm male! I live in Wan Chai but I might be moving soon! Probably Mid Levels or stay with my ex girlfriend in Tung Chung. But I'll still keep the name WANCH :)

Lan Kwai Fong, that's where I go to get some good burgers :) Like the ones in Al's Diner. I have some friends who have a showband in that area.

I'm half Pinoy and half Malay. But I more in the Pinoy side since I have alot of Filipino friends and classmates in HK and grew with the culture. There are hardly any Malaysians here.

I'm so lucky I don't have to go through that British citizenship test ! And some of the questions are so dumb...
Anyone else in London?? or UK generally?? :)

^ I think Wecky and Lumpia are UK-based. Lumpia hardly posts here but she has a lot of intelligent remarks in the Asian threads. Wecky is usually posting in the Iloilo, Panay Island threads, also very smart. There is another Briton who is married to a Pinay who posts here. I'm searcing my brains right now for his forum name.

^ I think Wecky and Lumpia are UK-based. Lumpia hardly posts here but she has a lot of intelligent remarks in the Asian threads. Wecky is usually posting in the Iloilo, Panay Island threads, also very smart. There is another Briton who is married to a Pinay who posts here. I'm searcing my brains right now for his forum name.

Oh ok thanks Lili - at least I have company! :cheers:

Isn't Janchiz also from the UK? But she's moving to Hawaii soon. :dunno:

There is another Briton who is married to a Pinay who posts here. I'm searcing my brains right now for his forum name.

baka si @scouserdave

^ Yes, Mango. It's @scouserdave with his uncomely comedian avatars.

Distinct Financial Trends Among City's Asian Groups
By DANIELA GERSON New York Sun November 11, 2005

The Korean green grocer, the Pakistani taxi driver, and the Filipina nurse may seem like New York City stereotypes, but new statistics show there is truth behind the cliches.

Among the area's six largest Asian ethnic groups - Chinese, Korean, Pakistani, Filipino, Japanese, and Indian - distinct occupational and financial trends have emerged, according to a report released yesterday by the Asian American Federation of New York.

"The key difference between the New York Asian populations and other Asian populations is the diversity," the report's author, Howard Shih, data manager for the federation, said.

During the 1990s, more Asians than any other ethnic group entered New York. They numbered 1.5 million in the metropolitan area as of 2000, an 83% increase over a decade earlier. Mr. Shih reported that more than a quarter of the New York City metropolitan area's life and physical scientists; nearly a third of textile, apparel, and furnishing workers, and a quarter of the physicians and surgeons are Asian. Labor force participation is slightly higher than the general population and unemployment slightly lower.

Despite composite trends, the findings among groups range widely. Within the burgeoning group, the disparity is particularly evident in wealth distribution: median family incomes range from about $45,000 for Pakistanis to $85,000 for Japanese, and poverty rates from 4% for Filipinos to 21% for Pakistanis.

One would assume that Indians and Pakistanis, Mr. Shih noted as an example, would be similar because they come from neighboring countries. In fact, they have extremely divergent experiences. Indians are financially one of the area's better-off communities and tend to reside in New York's suburban areas. Well-represented among doctors and computer specialists, more than 10% of physicians and surgeons and 9% of computer scientists are Indian, even though they're just 2% of the labor force.

In contrast, Pakistanis are the poorest of the six major Asian groups, with more than one-fifth of households below the poverty line. Driving cars is the most common occupation for Pakistanis, accounting for about 15% of that population, according to the study. Pakistani women have exceptionally high rates of unemployment, nearly double the overall Asian population.

On the other end of the female employment spectrum are Filipina women. The study found what anyone who has recently gone to a hospital has probably already observed: Filipinos have a strong presence among registered nurses, physicians and surgeons, and other health care workers.

The stereotype of the Korean shopkeeper is also proved as fact, with the data showing nearly one-quarter of Korean men and 17% of women as self-employed. Additionally, 14% of Korean jobs are in personal and laundry services. The image of enterprising Koreans, however, does not always translate into wealth. Despite young Koreans faring about equivalent with the general population, for senior citizens the poverty rate is almost double the general population, at 21%.

Another financial condition that defies traditional stereotypes is that of the young Japanese population. At the time of the study, 10% of all Japanese men were top executives, helping to explain the high family income, at more than $80,000. What is striking about the statistics, however, is that even though the overall poverty rate of Japanese is relatively low, about one-third of single Japanese under the age of 65 were below the poverty line, a rate much higher than that for the general population. This could be explained by the recent influx of young Japanese artists and musicians who have flocked to the East Village and Astoria, Queens, replacing the flow of businessmen who entered in the 1980s.

The study is based on 2000 census statistics - the last date for which such statistics are available. It includes anyone who identified in the New York City region census as Asian. Despite the five-year gap, Mr. Shih said he does not anticipate any major demographic shifts have occurred since then.

While each ethnic group has distinct occupational and economic characteristics, Mr. Shih said examining Asians as a group is also crucial for understanding the community's developmental prospects. When the federal government determines equal employment opportunities and other civil rights issues, he said, it does not look at the differential in incomes among Pakistanis and Indians, but Asians as a composite group.

The Governor of Hawaii and her entourage are scheduling an official visit to the Philippines in January; this is supposedly significant in that she plans to include this activity as her endorsement of the centennial of Filipino immigration to the Hawaiian Islands. I had been considering joining the tour, since it's been opened to anyone willing to shell out USD 3000+ for a six-day jaunt (airfares and hotel only). The only crappy thing for me is that the itinerary focuses heavily on the north (La Union, Vigan, Sinait and Laoag) as well as a reception with Bongbong. Totally no relevance for one whose 1) roots lie in Bikol, Malabon, and the Visayas; and 2) political leanings run opposite to the Marcos clan! That's what happens in a place like Hawaii where the bulk of the recent masses of pinoy immigrants hail from the Ilokos. Oh well--better to spend the $3K on my own tour of places I'd want to see and to forego an official invite to Malacanang. Its' so strange being a minority within a minority!

3000 dollars just to see a refrigerated corpse!?? True devotion indeed!

Hong Kong and Dubai are the few cities with a sizable Filipino population. They make up some of the largest minority groups. Especially Hong Kong where Filipinos are the largest minority group.

3000 dollars just to see a refrigerated corpse!?? True devotion indeed!

Just like the devotion shown with the shoes of Imelda.

THE GLOBAL PINOY: Learn from the Chinese
By Greg B. Macabenta Wednesday, November 16, 2005

A TSINOY friend of mine, who owns the largest Filipino-owned retail chain in the United States, likes to recall that his late father came to the Philippines from China as a young boy; he was penniless but had hoped to make something out of his life.

He worked as a servant in Chinatown, and then as a helper in a store. When he felt that he had learned enough about the business, he decided to set out on his own. Over the years, he had squirreled away money from his meager wages to the extent of depriving himself. But the young man had a goal in life and he was willing to make sacrifices in order to achieve it. He did.

By the time he had gotten married and had sired sons and daughters, he had become a wealthy man. In spite of their riches, the children, from early childhood, helped in the business. After school, where other kids would play, they would help man their many stores, attend to customers, order merchandise, manage the workers and, most of all, help make their wealth grow.

Some years ago, the US immigration service intercepted a boat that had several dozen young Chinese in the hold. They were headed for the East Coast. According to them, they had been promised jobs in New York.

Whether in New York or San Francisco, Malaysia or Manila, the story of Chinese migrants appears to follow a pattern. They arrive in a strange country penniless, work for meager wages in restaurants, Laund*romats, factories and retail stores, build a nest egg while depriving themselves, learn a trade or a business, and then set out on their own.

When I was a young boy in Tacloban, I would see people laughing at the Chinese peddlers selling taho or collecting discarded bottles.

“Tahoooo!” “Bote, garapa!” People would laugh in derision at the peddlers’ cries.

Decades later, the same peddlers owned the biggest businesses in town, employing their hecklers.

The story of my friend’s father has been replicated over the years by thousands of poor Filipinos who have left for foreign lands. The difference is that, most Filipinos set out to find employment. My father’s friend, like many young Chinese migrants, was bent on building a business for himself.

There is no reason why OFWs should not learn a lesson from the Chinese. But it takes the right attitude, a vision of what they want to become and a willingness to make sacrifices.

Some months ago, I wrote about Consuelo Farochelin, the Filipino millionaires in London who began as a domestic. She obviously did not think that her family’s earnings in her native Pampanga were enough to keep body and soul together, so she took a job abroad.

But she did what many Chinese migrants did. She made a business out of the most ordinary activity: packing boxes of canned goods and gifts to send to her family. Filipino friends, at first, asked to hitchhike on her boxes. But she soon decided to make a business out of the activity. And, in no time, she became the “Balikbayan Queen” of London.

Today, Farochelin owns prime property in Central London, including a commercial building, and operates a cargo forwarding, a money remittance and a travel business, as well as a grocery store and a newspaper.

On a recent tour of Europe, my children came upon a Filipino in Florence who owned a leather-goods store. Also in Florence was another Pinoy who owned a karaoke bar.

In Bonn, I met a Filipina who owned and operated a hotel with her German husband. Some 25 years ago, she had walked out on a job as a domestic helper in a Middle Eastern consulate, after being treated harshly. Desperate, she agreed to a partnership of convenience with a German who had a small bed and breakfast. Together, they grew the enterprise. In the process, they decided to wed.

Perhaps it is desperation that brings out the entrepreneurial instincts of a person. But that’s saying that the instinct is inherent. If there is ever any doubt that Filipinos have that entrepreneurial quality in them, just look at all the sidewalk vendors and street peddlers that populate Metro Manila. When you come right down to it, they are no different from the Chinese mag-bobote or mag-tataho of my childhood.

The difference is that the Chinese peddlers, like Consuelo Farochelin, decided that what they were was only temporary; that they were meant for greater things.

Indeed, it takes strength of character, dissatisfaction with one’s miserable status in life and willingness to sweat and strive to pull oneself out of the mire.

The tale of the global Filipino would be so much more inspiring if they were to learn from the Chinese.

^^nice story

wow i didnt knwo that we had the largest minority group in hk, i reckon we have a large population here in sydney, majority of the western suburbs are filled with filos... which is heaps fun. luv the filo precinct in blacktown, mt druitt, penrith, st marys etc.

Youngblood : Greener pastures
By Jayson M. Barola

ASSALAM ALAIKOM!

I work in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Arabian Gulf. It is connected to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the four-lane, 25-kilometer long King Faisal Causeway. I should point out that this small country, which is probably the size of Batangas, is an “open country” where foreigners can practice “Westerly” culture in this largely conservative region of the Middle East. No wonder, Saudi nationals as well as other Arabs often jump into their cars and cross the bridge to spend their weekends in here and have a good time.

Not surprisingly, since the pasture is greener, one finds many Filipinos “grazing” here. One doesn’t have to look far to find Inday Mayordoma (a domestic helper), Maria Kusinera (a cook), Kapitan Sixto and Juan Sea Man (a ship captain, mate, rigger, diver, fisherman, name it, and they are there doing work offshore). There are many Pedro Karpintero (carpenter), Pablo Mekaniko (mechanic) and Doc Aga na nag-nurse na pala. The dreaded but effective Ms Tapia teaches here without her cane or stick, of course (she’s still good but not so intimidating anymore without her stick and raised eyebrows). There are professionals certified by the Professional Regulation Commission and there are those with “Recto doctorates,” whose degrees are "dinuktor" [fake]. Engineer Efren is supervising one aspect of the project to extend the land area by claiming the sea or helping build modern-day Towers of Babel, skyscrapers and refineries. I can give you more names, titles and professions (rackets and commissions), but that would be a hundred times longer than “Schindler’s List.” But the bottom line is, we all came here with our diplomas, our carabao English, our empty wallets, our hopes and our desire to find our place in the sun (which translates into fortune and money, really).

The thing is, it is not only we carabaos who are grazing in Bahrain. The country is now flooded with Asian migrant workers in what looks like a giant Asian invasion. It’s getting tough and very competitive out there in the “fields.” Cheaper laborers and professionals have been flocking in from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other countries of South Asia. Competition is the name of the game between us and our neighbors, like the Indonesians, the Malaysians and the Thais.

I am proud to say that we Filipinos can hold our ground in terms of skills, talents, abilities, our quality of work and our working habits and attitude. Most employers, both Arab and foreigner, will attest to that. They will say: “Filipini good. Filipini lady beautiful. Others no good.”

But people from other countries are catching up. Their camel, mule, donkey, elephant, horse or Brahman cow English is now as good as our carabao English. Maybe their education and skills are developing even as ours deteriorate. Maybe they learned from us Filipinos, or they learned from their own kind or from others. Or it could be the result of globalization.

Or perhaps their labor attachés, embassies and foreign affairs ministries support them very well by looking for potential markets as well as promoting their interests in the international labor market. Their government offices and ministries are outperforming our Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), etc. (We have so many offices and we use so many acronyms that some of our "kababayan" [countrymen] think that POLO or OWWA is the name of a department as in, “Department of OWWA.”)

Mind you, other Asian workers’ salaries, talent fees, contract fees, kickback and "sahod" [wages], whatever you may call it, are lower and that gives them an edge over us. My Bahraini friend Mohammed told me that skills, attitudes and workmanship are one thing, while salaries and fees are another thing all together. So the heat is on! Juan, Sixto, Inday, Maria, Pedro, Pablo, Engineer Efren, Doc Aga cum nurse, Constancia (Ms Tapia), myself and thousands of Filipinos here are being pitted against thousands named Tom, Dick, Harry, Ahmed, Abdullah, Raja, Mohandas, Akira, Kim, Jung, Khan, Gopal, Sonia, Shah, Suchet, Khumar, Ispirikitik, Tuktuk (I’m not sure if I got some of their names correctly; some foreign names are very hard to pronounce and hard to spell with all those consonants and silent letters.)

I remember one particular conversation with a fellow Filipino worker:

“Pare, what what your reason for coming here to Bahrain?”

“Same as yours: to find greener pastures?”

“If that’s so, why did you resign? Your salary was not that bad.”

“Nah, they will probably hire two Patanis [Pakistanis] or two Panas [Indians] to replace me, so they might just as well terminate my contract. But anyway, I will be going back home. Homesick na eh. And then I will apply again, you know, maybe in Dubai. Open country daw dun. Kahit saan na lang where the pasture is greener.”

“Good luck na lang, pare! Pakibigay mo na lang kay misis itong package. Sige p're. Better grass next time!”

72,000 Filipinos lose jobs due to Japan's revised policy
By Guil Franco 9 December 2005

MANILA — About 72,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) lost their jobs as entertainers following Japan's enforcement early this year of a revised policy on the deployment of overseas performing artistes (OPAs) to the East Asian country.

A Philippine labour official, who requested not to be named, yesterday said that the deployment of OPAs dropped by as much as 90 per cent since Tokyo's imposition of the new immigration rules last March 15.

"We used to process about 80,000 working permits for Filipino artistes or entertainers annually and they dropped to 8,000 following the Japanese government's implementation of the new hiring regulations," the source said.


Significant reduction

The Department of Labour and Employment (DoLE) official noted that the significant reduction in the deployment of OFW-entertainers to Japan prompted the department to close its Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) in Osaka last month.

"We have no work to do so DoLE had to close down the Osaka office and so the processing of all working permits is now being handled by the Polo office in Tokyo," the source stressed.

DoLE chief Patricia Sto. Tomas confirmed the deployment of Filipino entertainers has been seriously affected by the revised immigration rules on hiring foreign performing artists, adopted by Tokyo to curb prostitution in Japan.


Very minimal

Labour Secretary Sto. Tomas, however, stressed the drop in deployment is very minimal.

She quoted data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which recorded only about 30 per cent drop in OPA deployment to Japan.

"We have recorded a 30 per cent decline and that's about 50,000 workers," she told reporters during an interview.

But Sto. Tomas pointed out that despite the decrease in the deployment of entertainers to Japan and the ban on Iraq, there still exists a continuing increase in OFW deployment.

She said POEA records indicate the Philippines is not far from its one million target deployment for overseas Filipino workers. She added that as of November this year, around 875,362 OFWs had been deployed to various countries.


Exit points

Sto. Tomas added the data do not include deployment of OFWs from Cebu, Davao, Clark (Pampanga) and Laoag (Ilocos Norte) — places which are also being used as exit points for OFWs.

Japan imposed the revised immigration (and OPA-hiring) rules after the United States tagged it as the country with a very high number of human-trafficking and prostitution cases.

My parents' actions taught me unspoken principles of conduct
By Norman Analista

Over dinner, my cousins and I laughed up a storm as we engaged in light-hearted conversation about how our Pinoy parents communicated with us.

Since we lived on American soil, my mom's friends persuaded her that her children were better off just speaking English instead of her Ilonggo dialect, or Tagalog, the Philippines' national language. And it was the same way for my cousins.

So, English was the primary language spoken at our homes. You can imagine, however, what sort of predicaments can arise from learning English from folks who aren't always comfortable with word pronunciations and usage.

One cousin, for instance, recounted a story about her trip to a grocery store in the mainland with a friend from Guam. While strolling through the meat section, my relative exclaimed, "Wow! In the states they call it 'soup bones,'" referring to the beef product used to flavor broths.

"What do you mean in the states they call it soup bones?" her friend asked. "They call it soup bones in Guam too," she added. My cousin giggled then defended herself, "I always thought it was 'soft bones' because that's what my parents always called it!"

At that moment, my wife and I laughed out loud, because the two of us had our own separate epiphanies well into our adulthood that the soft bones we knew as children were actually called soup bones.

Filipinos reverse their P's with F's, so our parents were saying "souf" all along, but we deciphered it as soft.

Along those same lines, I grew up calling other items by names that weren't correct. Because Pinoys are extremely brand conscious, my parents called the refrigerator "Frigidaire" and sometimes shortened it to "Pridge." We referred to our toothpaste as Colgate, even if we were using Crest, and the generic term for all diapers was Pampers.


Esteem for elders

In a Filipino household, the elders are held in high esteem and what they say is often accepted without question. So I never really challenged my parents' word choices -- until I found out for myself that some of them were wrong.

My mom and dad were always better "doers" than speakers, and that's fine with me. They were most effective at communicating important ideas and thoughts by demonstrating them and setting examples.

For instance, I learned how to be hospitable by observing how my parents welcomed their visiting friends. Now, whenever folks come by my home, even if unannounced, I'm obliged to offer snacks or drinks. If they arrive during mealtime, I'll invite them to join in. And if I don't have anything to serve, I'll apologize profusely.

I was also coached on how to respect others' property and privacy. My parents showed me by example that if you're visiting someone else's home, you shouldn't touch or play with their things and should stay out of the rooms unless you're invited to go in.

By watching how my mom and dad greeted those senior to them, I understood how critical it is to acknowledge my elders. In our culture, it's the younger person's responsibility to greet our seniors with a warm greeting or a cheek kiss.

Finally, I never saw my parents embarrass or disrespect others, so I always knew that it was wrong to perform these acts. I was also taught that if you must bring up a touchy subject, temper it with the right words and approach.

And there are many other similar examples. The knowledge my parents conveyed to me wasn't expressed explicitly or articulately, but they were demonstrated with all sincerity. That genuineness is more essential to me than the ability to speak without an accent or using fancy words. I wouldn't have it any other way, because at the end of the day, actions always speak louder than words.

here's from an old article about pinoys in canada (old, but at it gives us an insight on the arrival of pinoys in canada). i got it from this site:

http://www.diversitywatch.ryerson.ca/backgrounds/filipino.htm

Population
Filipinos represent the fourth largest visible minority group in 2001, representing 8% of Canada’s visible minority population. There are 140,405 people of Filipino heritage living in Toronto.

In 2001, there were 327,545 people of Filipino heritage living in Canada with nearly half of those in Ontario (165,025), 69,000 in British Columbia and 36,000 in Alberta.

Recent Filipino Immigration:
1994-95 14,165
1995-96 11,921
1996-97 9,467
1997-98 8,048
1998-99 9,344

History of Filipinos in Canada
The first record of Filipino immigrants in Canada was in 1932. The major influx of Filipino immigration started in the sixties and seventies. By 1977, the Philippines was already amongst the first top ten native countries of immigrants to Canada.

Up until the early 1950's, only 10 Filipino immigrants are recorded. From 1946-64, the number totaled more that 770. Then in 1965, over 1,767 Filipinos entered Canada. Most immigrants were women who worked as nurses, domestics, office administrators and a few doctors. As part of an effort to build stronger relations with the Philippines, the Canadian government commissioned the first Canadian embassy in the capital of Manila in 1972.

A large number of Filipinos who had come to Toronto in the sixties and early seventies settled in the St. Jamestown area near Sherbourne and Wellesley.

Filipinos face the stereotype of being domestic workers or nurses because of the first wave of immigrants. Generally, they are seen as trustworthy, hard-working people who are dedicated to their family and religion. First generation Filipinos often struggle with their cultural and national identity.

^^ I have lots of relatives in Ontario, in the Willowdale area. :colgate:

^^ G'Day! What's it like there in Melbourne? Is there a huge Pinoy community where you're at? :colgate:

Sorry I took so long to answer! I forgot about this thread! I don't go into the Samahan forum that often ...

There's a huge Pinoy community here, but not as big as Sydney's. We have a Filipino Association which publishes newsletters, and a Filipino Fiesta every year.

kamusta ang men's gallery sa city?? buhay pa ba??

Buhay pa! Popular nga e. Not sure how popular it is with the Filipinos though.

Explosive bill for TNTs
THE GLOBAL PINOY By GREG B. MACABENTA

What is worrisome is the broader definition of “illegal presence,” which includes “any violation, even technical, of an immigration law or regulation, even without any intent to violate the immigration laws.”

The US Congress has just passed a bill that tightens the screws on both persons of questionable immigration status and those who employ them or provide them with aid.

The Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, also known as H.R. 4437, would classify all undocumented immigrants as "aggravated felons," subject to imprisonment and deportation without a hearing.

Currently, illegal presence in the US is a violation of civil law. H.R. 4437 makes it a criminal offense.

What is worrisome is the broader definition of "illegal presence," which includes "any violation, even technical, of an immigration law or regulation, even without any intent to violate the immigration laws."

A memo issued by Timothy H. Edgar, national security policy counsel of the

American Civil Liberties Union, warns:

"H.R. 4437 would expand on policies that have seriously eroded civil liberties. It would further militarize the border and give extraordinary powers to low-level immigration officials within 100 miles of the border to expel without a hearing anyone believed to be a recently arrived illegal immigrant. It expands mandatory detention to apply to all non-citizens arriving at a port of entry or ‘along’ the border.

"H.R. 4437 would also erode even further the basic rights of immigrants to judicial review, even by the constitutionally guaranteed writ of habeas corpus. H.R. 4437 would criminalize all violations of immigration law, with very serious consequences for genuine refugees and others who qualify for humanitarian relief. Finally, H.R. 4437 gives extraordinary powers to detain noncitizens indefinitely without meaningful review, potentially placing many noncitizens in a legal black hole that subjects them to a life sentence after having served a criminal sentence or, in some cases, without ever having been convicted of a crime."

According to Rodel Rodis, San Francisco-based immigration lawyer and community advocate, the bill, if it becomes law, "would make criminals even of foreign students who drop a class or H-1 workers who lose jobs and take too long to find a new employer sponsor."

In the bill, nonimmigrant-visa holders, such as students and guest workers, are deprived of judicial review because, in order to obtain a visa, they will be required to sign a waiver of their right to an administrative hearing.

Under the present law, that waiver applies only to tourists and other short-term visitors.

An equally Draconian provision makes it a criminal offense to employ or provide refuge to illegal aliens. Section 202 of the bill presents a broad definition of "smuggling" that criminalizes the work of churches and refugee organizations.

Many asylum seekers with a valid claim may be unwittingly "illegally present" in the US for a period of time. That is covered by the definition of illegal presence and subjects those who harbor them to criminal penalties.

Those caught doing so face a prison term of up to five years or a fine "where the offense [is] not committed for commercial advantage, profit, or private financial gain."

If the offense is "committed for commercial advantage, profit, or private financial gain" -- and this obviously refers to employers -- a first violation means imprisonment of "not more than 20 years" or a fine.

A subsequent violation will be meted a prison term of "not less than three years nor more than 20 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both."

This has raised a howl in the agricultural sector, especially in California, which depends to a large extent on immigrant labor. Many of these workers are undocumented. But without them, the farming industry would collapse.

Over the years, the authorities in such major cities as New York and San Francisco have resisted attempts to make them implement immigration laws. The police have been particularly resistant, fearing that this would drive a wedge between them and the immigrant community.

With the criminalization of immigration violations, as proposed by H.R. 4437, the police will be constrained to get involved in enforcement. At any rate, cities that still refuse to cooperate will be deprived of federal funds.

H.R. 4437 is not only punitive; it completely ignores the call of President George W. Bush for a guest worker program that will provide a means for the undocumented to legalize their status.

Fortunately, the US Senate is not particularly keen on H.R. 4437. Even Senate

Republicans consider it lacking in the positive components that Senators John

McCain and Edward Kennedy have proposed in their own bills.

However, that offers little comfort to the thousands of illegal immigrants now residing in America (Filipinos alone are estimated to be upwards of half a million). Even assuming that the extreme provisions of H.R. 4437 are not incorporated in a consolidated bill that may be passed by the Senate and then forwarded to the White House, enough of the punitive ones will likely be retained.

And that is explosive news for TNTs

i heard a story i think from my cousin that there was this old couple that have been in cali for almost 20yrs but work i guess under the table as a factory workers. well, their kids had grown up and some even finished college, unknowingly known that their parents were illegal aliens. they started breaking down really good on filipino immigration when GMA started withdrawing back those filipino troops she sent over in Iraq. hence, the old couple were sent back to the philippines obviously. the son and daughter on the other hand were somehow feeling guilty that they could've done better or something else if they only knew.

i heard a story i think from my cousin that there was this old couple that have been in cali for almost 20yrs but work i guess under the table as a factory workers. well, their kids had grown up and some even finished college, unknowingly known that their parents were illegal aliens. they started breaking down really good on filipino immigration when GMA started withdrawing back those filipino troops she sent over in Iraq. hence, the old couple were sent back to the philippines obviously. the son and daughter on the other hand were somehow feeling guilty that they could've done better or something else if they only knew.

Yeah it is sad, but ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

^^ Fil-Ams should be more assertive - if this couple were Cubans living in Miami there would be an uproar with demos all over the place!

whats men's gallery sa city

^sounds like a gay sightseeing

Hey...part filipino here, born and raised in Canada (Van/TO)...can't speak/understand much of the language though :(, but I have been to the Philippines :).
There are a lot of Filipinos in the GTA (especially in Scarborough), in fact they dominate most of the catholic schools along with the Italians and Poles. I heard we even have a Jollybee's (Bathurst/Wilson). Question for fellow GTA-ers: where is the best place to get Filipino goods?

Hey...part filipino here, born and raised in Canada (Van/TO)...can't speak/understand much of the language though :(, but I have been to the Philippines :).
There are a lot of Filipinos in the GTA (especially in Scarborough), in fact they dominate most of the catholic schools along with the Italians and Poles. I heard we even have a Jollybee's (Bathurst/Wilson). Question for fellow GTA-ers: where is the best place to get Filipino goods?


Hey Booyashako. I know 1 filipino here who's half cuban.
In the church i go to there are Sunday services in Italian, English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese, and Tagalog. I havent gone to Tagalog because it's too early. Hahaha. i always end up in brasil or spanish, evening sked.

The best pinoy resto is Aristokrat BBQ i heard. In the same area

^^ I've heard of Aristokrat BBQ but haven't gone. My church has a Tagalog service too (at 9:30am) but I don't go because...you know...

do you guys know this filipino restaurant, i hope theyre still open. when we went to toronto because we were drooling to some filipino food, this is the time i was living near syracuse. so we went ponder around toronto and i guess we ended up to your gay town, where there was this filipino restaurant, almost two years ago now. is that still open.

^^ I've heard of Aristokrat BBQ but haven't gone. My church has a Tagalog service too (at 9:30am) but I don't go because...you know...

i dont know. no tagalog for you?

do you guys know this filipino restaurant, i hope theyre still open. when we went to toronto because we were drooling to some filipino food, this is the time i was living near syracuse. so we went ponder around toronto and i guess we ended up to your gay town, where there was this filipino restaurant, almost two years ago now. is that still open.

errr. i dont know. ask your friend if he's still there. hehe :jk:

yeah thats why im asking you

hihihi :hug:

^sana ito na'lang http://vidahost.com/smilies/otn/funny/smileysex5.gif

^^ haha wala yan sa listahan ko
:nono: :angel:

So where are the pinoys in Sydney, anyone here? :? :D

try wreckoning

^cge na matt, lugto na ko, bukas na lang

good night Tigi.

So where are the pinoys in Sydney, anyone here? :? :D


andito lang po

i dont know. no tagalog for you?

exactly

^^ Fil-Ams should be more assertive - if this couple were Cubans living in Miami there would be an uproar with demos all over the place!

There's a "special" rule concerning Cubans with regards to immigration and asylum; any Cuban national that reaches US soil is given political asylum immediately; others, like Haitians, are sent back home when they reach any US territory. So, not all countries are treated the same.

There's a "special" rule concerning Cubans with regards to immigration and asylum; any Cuban national that reaches US soil is given political asylum immediately; others, like Haitians, are sent back home when they reach any US territory. So, not all countries are treated the same.

hey kimber, whatever happened to that cuban guy (who was based in the u.s.) who let his brother used his travel documents and now can't get out of cuba?

^^ Have no new news about that one Paul.

RP medical "brain drain" worries British envoy
December 27, 2005

Even a foreign diplomat has aired apprehensions over the ongoing "drain" on the Philippine medical profession.

British Ambassador to Manila Peter Beckingham said "too many (Filipino) doctors retraining as nurses" are being lured by better pay in his home country, a trend that both Manila and London should "watch very carefully."

"One area we obviously need to keep a watch on, more for your government than for ours, is that there is a drain on your own health service. We are very aware of that," the diplomat told reporters in an interview last week.

It was a rare and probably the first time that a foreign official drew notice to the alarming migration of Filipino doctors and nurses, their scarcity worst felt in hospitals in the provinces and rural areas.

The diplomat reported that 2005 saw a 15-percent increase in the number of Filipinos applying for working visas in the UK.

Well over 120,000 Filipinos are now working in Britain, most of them in the health service while significant numbers are also in the fashion industry, financial sector, and the music business, he noted.

While saying that Filipino professionals in various fields are very welcome to work in the United Kingdom, he said the exodus of doctors preferring to be nurses could be "an issue in the long term, to be candid with you."

However, Beckingham expressed confidence that the country will not have a shortage of nurses.

The envoy said he actually sees an "oversupply" of nurses for local hiring, an impression he got from recent trips outside Metro Manila, including one he made to San Fernando City in Pampanga province where one university "produces nurses by the thousands."

"I think we and your government will need to watch very carefully that there are too many doctors from the Philippines retraining as nurses to come into Britain," he said.

iM LiViNG OVERSEAS iN THE STATES. i THOUGHT THE STATES WOULD BE BETTER THAN i EXPECTED. :drunk:

There's a "special" rule concerning Cubans with regards to immigration and asylum; any Cuban national that reaches US soil is given political asylum immediately; others, like Haitians, are sent back home when they reach any US territory. So, not all countries are treated the same.

Oh i see....so maybe Fil-Ams and other ethic groups should start questioning this special treatment of Cubans, but I guess that won't go very far as long as Bush is in the White House.

whats men's gallery sa city

It's a strip joint for straight men. ;)

Oh i see....so maybe Fil-Ams and other ethic groups should start questioning this special treatment of Cubans, but I guess that won't go very far as long as Bush is in the White House.

This "special treatment" of Cubans stems off from the fact that the US and Cuba are "technically" still engaged in war over each other, albeit more ideological than physical. Cuba is the only communist-run regime left in the western hemisphere, the US still has a trade embargo imposed on the island nation, and US citizens are prohibited to travel to and visit the country (although there are ways to do so). By giving Cuba's "boat people" automatic political assylum immediately upon reaching US soil will "encourage" (and I use that term loosely) more defectors from the regime and hoping that Castro's oppressive regime will crumble and fade away from the lack of supporters.

But it's a double edged sword, lots of Cubans have risked and lost their lives because of this, in their efforts and dreams to reach America, they braved the unrelenting and unforgiving 90 plus miles or so sea voyage on flimsy and poorly constructed rafts made from a mish-mash of materials and they paid the ultimate price for their freedom from communism. Although the US government vehemently denies encouraging this exodus, it does welcome every Cuban the sets foot here with a warm hug, an American flag to wave, and thumb their noses at Castro.

Teachers, IT and health workers top list of most in-demand jobs abroad -- POEA
Friday, January 06 2006

Teachers, nurses and caregivers top the list of most in-demand jobs abroad, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said on Friday.

Countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Israel, Australia and the United States listed its high demand for nurses, caregivers and other health professionals.

The US Department of Health and Human Services reported an estimate shortage of 110,000 fulltime equivalent registered nurses. Canada, on the other hand, is expected to require some 59,000 to 113,000 nurses up to 2011. The US also needs about 2.8 million teachers up to 2008.

Meanwhile, China expressed high demand for teachers. They said that even graduates of courses outside Education would be allowed entry to work given they pass a certification exam.

New Zealand also posted high demand for linemen to set up electricity posts in the country famous for rural living.

POEA Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said New markets such as New Caledonia will hire 3,000 skilled workers and professionals for large-scale mining project which is expected to be finished in 2007.

The hotel and construction industries in Turks and Caicos are projected to have 1,500 job vacancies this year.

Trinidad and Tobago have started recruiting healthcare workers last year. Bahamas and Cayman islands have high demand for welders, electricians, carpenters, painters and hotel and restaurant workers.

Baldoz also bared that aviation industry abroad expressed preference to Filipino pilots due to their proficiency in English.

She cited India needs 4,000 commercial pilots in the next five years.

Baldoz forecasted that 2006 could surpass the 1.1 million benchmark in 2005, with the high demand for foreign workers, particularly OFWs, abroad and promising new job markets in New Caledonia, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, among others.

The POEA hit the 1.1 million employments abroad in 2005, however, only 963,115 were actually deployed as 37,085 working visas were cancelled because workers were chartered to their destinations on time.

Baldoz explained that the matter is partly due to the lack of outbound international flights available to ferry OFWs to their country destinations.

She conveyed the concerns of placement groups heads, Eduardo Mahiya, president of the Overseas Placement Association of the Philippines (OPAP) and Philippine Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (PHILMAT) president Jackson Gan that the visible lack of international flights of airlines often led to cancellation of workers' visa.

Baldoz however said they are meeting with the leaders of the recruitment industry and the Civil Aeronautics Board to resolve the issue.

Saudi Arabia remained as the top destination of OFWs with 178,878 workers deployed last year, followed by Hong Kong with 29,386 and Japan with 52,718. Other top host nations are United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Kuwait, Singapore, Qatar, Korea and Lebanon.

That lousy feeling
By Belinda Olivares-Cunanan Jan 10, 2006

In Rome a few months ago, Philippine Ambassador Philippe Lhuillier told us about an exploratory study of the Filipino youth phenomenon in Italy today. He sought our help in publicizing it so that appropriate help could be obtained. The study was conducted by a group called Pilipinas OFSPES, in collaboration with Sentro Filipino, founded in 1991, that brings together the more than 40 Catholic church communities there into one Filipino chaplaincy.

It noted that while there are between 30,000 and 40,000 Filipinos in Rome and about 105,000 in the whole of Italy (Lhuillier thinks it’s closer to 180,000), making Filipinos the fourth largest migrant community in Italy, the number of Filipino youth (those from 12 to 30 years old) has been rising dramatically. This is because parents legally bring in their children before they reach the 18 years age limit, and an estimated 750 babies are born to Filipino parents in Italy yearly.

While it’s a positive thing for Filipino families to be reunited with their children, serious problems and concerns related to these “second generation migrants” ought to be addressed by various institutions, such as the Philippine and Italian governments, the Catholic Church, parents, and the Filipino worker community abroad.

* * *

The study noted that many youths migrate to Italy not of their own volition. Uprooted from their familiar environment and friends and loved ones back home, the youths encounter new stresses from adjustment to a new culture and system with its new set of values and norms, which often conflict with their old Filipino values, and a totally unfamiliar language. Moreover, many OFW parents are often too busy with multiple jobs to attend to their uprooted children. Thus, it’s not surprising that most migrant youths undergo tremendous, even overwhelming feelings of insecurity and doubt, loneliness, failure and lack of confidence. At times, they engage in “socially undesirable behavior” such as dropping out of school, gambling, drinking, drug abuse and teenage pregnancies.

The adverse situation is by no means confined to Filipino youths, and Italian schools are said to be quite unprepared for the explosion of foreign enrollment from 30,000 to 300,000 in 10 years. Fortunately, there have been other studies of the migrant youth phenomenon in host countries such as the United States, as well as in countries with heavy migrant outflow such as Mexico (which has over 16 million citizens in the US who remit over $16 billion yearly to their native land). The Philippines can certainly learn from them. Then, too, our government and the host country, Italy, could approach the problems jointly, e.g., providing a study of Italian prior to departure would certainly help the Filipino youths adjust.

* * *

A different problem was recently raised by two visitors from the United Kingdom: Charles Kelly and Cynthia Alcantara-Barker. Qualified immigration advisers, who run their own successful practice in London, they recently came here to launch their book, “How 2 Come to the UK -- To Live Work Study or Visit.” The book, their latest collaborative effort (they also co-author a column on “Immigration Matters” for several leading British publications), is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow general guide to the many ways one can legally settle in the UK. It includes case studies governed by complex immigration laws, including those involving work permits, family settlement and entry clearance.

* * *

Their thesis is simple: Despite the many opportunities available to those who want to go to the UK, “there are still thousands of Filipinos who land there clueless about where and how to start their new lives, ending up stranded, aimless, helpless and thousands of pounds in debt.” They point out that there are legal ways to enter the country, hence, there’s no need to go "TNT" [illegal aliens]. They are ready to advise Filipinos who want to do so, and only ask that they be candid about their intentions.

I must admit that when our Corito Fiel invited me to their press luncheon, I had ambivalent feelings for why should I endorse a book that encourages emigration. But after Barker, a native of San Pablo City, Laguna, who is herself a success story as a 17-year immigrant in UK, explained that it teaches Filipinos to go legit, I told myself going abroad is a fact of our national life, so we might as well learn to do it the right and dignified way.

do you guys know this filipino restaurant, i hope theyre still open. when we went to toronto because we were drooling to some filipino food, this is the time i was living near syracuse. so we went ponder around toronto and i guess we ended up to your gay town, where there was this filipino restaurant, almost two years ago now. is that still open.

do you mean the aristocrat? actually, now there are several filo resto's here and they just opened up a jollybee in toronto. the spelling of jollybee is different but the bee looks the same as the bee in the philippines.

do you mean the aristocrat? actually, now there are several filo resto's here and they just opened up a jollybee in toronto. the spelling of jollybee is different but the bee looks the same as the bee in the philippines.

Hi! Do you have any details regardng this Jollybee in Toronto?

I had my first taste of Jollibee a few years ago in Manila, and I've been pining for it ever since. Unfortunately, my travels since then have been limited to Canada and the UK, so I've not been able to sate my appetite.

do you mean the aristocrat? actually, now there are several filo resto's here and they just opened up a jollybee in toronto. the spelling of jollybee is different but the bee looks the same as the bee in the philippines.

Yeah thats them :lol: thanks

Haha yea, there is a jollybee in toronto. it's at Wilson&Bathurst in North York. i havent been there but i passed by it once. It's a small restaurant with very few tables. People order mostly takeouts. I heard fried chicken there is masarap!

There's also a "Jollibee" in Madrid, Spain 100% owned by a Spanish. He had a Filipina wife thats why but they're already separated. It's a pasteleria and cafe tho, no chicken and spaghetti whatsoever. hehehe. just all kinds of breads and pastries, coffee. one of my favourite hangouts in Calle Orense(Nuevos Ministerios). very sosy place. If you happen to be in Madrid, don't forget to check it out.

^^ The globalization and diversification of the Jollibee empire! :lol:

OFW phenomenon to continue in 2006
By Tessa Salazar January 13, 2006

Will Overseas Filipino workers' investments in their home country continue to rise or slacken this year? Optimistic developers and real estate firms believe more money from OFWs will be pouring in.

Eric Soriano, ERA Philippines country president and CEO, said home mortgage investments develop "discipline" in the form of forced savings on OFW dependents.

"Our studies have shown that there is a 92 percent repayment of monthly amortizations among OFW homebuyers, a positive indicator for the industry," Soriano said.

"I believe the iceberg for OFW markets is very deep," he added.

According to him, statistics have shown that education and real estate are still top priorities for any OFW provider. Reinforcing OFW remittances are new money coming from balikbayans from North America and Europe.

Marivic A¤onuevo, vice president and head of Ayala Land Inc.'s leisure and lifestyle communities, said the number of Filipinos leaving the Philippines to work abroad continues to grow at around 12.5 percent.

"Although this is really a sad phenomenon, this indicates however that the amount of dollars earned and remitted back home continues to grow. Rather than slacking off, therefore, we in ALI feel that we have only mined what we believe is the tip of the large OFW market."

Danilo E. Ignacio, general manager of Robinsons Land Corp.-high rise building division, said RLC is confident that the OFW investments in real estate will remain.

Jose EB Antonio, chair of Century Properties Group and Meridien Development Group, said that 30 percent of the income of OFWs in general is spent on housing, whether to buy a new home, fix present homes or pay for rent.

"The quest for the Filipino dream of owning their home is foremost in the minds of OFWs. It is also worthwhile to note that the average income of an OFW has increased, as more white collar workers and technical people are working abroad," Antonio said.

Soriano observed that historically, spikes in OFW remittances occur every middle and end of the year.

"However, with the continuous deployment of new OFWs in existing and new geographical markets and the increase in remittance month on month, we can expect a steady stream of real estate business from the sector all throughout the year," he said.

A¤onuevo estimated that ALI overseas sales accounted for nearly 20 to 25 percent of the total sales volume generated by the ALI parent company, including subsidiaries such as Community Innovations Inc and LPHI. She added that recognizing this large potential, ALI has established Ayala Land International Sales Inc.

Ignacio said that RLC markets selected projects internationally. "Revenues generated from our international marketing efforts account for a substantial portion of our sales. We thus intend to pursue building this segment," he said.

ERA Real Estate, a multinational real estate service provider that manages Eastwood, expects to grow its OFW portfolio from 15 percent in 2005 to 25 percent this year.

"The industry posted an average OFW contribution of 20 to 25 percent. My advice to developers is for them to focus on increasing their OFW portfolio by an additional 15 percent this year," Soriano said.

i actually graduated in a Singapore-based school here in


seriously, is it really a good idea to go abroad?

:D watchyathink? or any better place to move?


it is my first time to visit this thread...

i would like to answer your question. if you live a comfortable life in the philippines, STAY! the country needs us. ofws may be sending money to help float the economy, but we can't just leave the less capable people behind and do the nation building by themselves. there will definitely be a lot of opportunities that other countries offer you because you have what they need, but i think there are more opportunities for your talents to be harnessed in an underdeveloped country like ours and make it great than for a country that is already developed where the only thing you need to do is maintain.

the japanese went out of their nation to learn and they returned bringing with them the knowledge. look at what the japanese are now. wherever they go, people of different colors pay high respect to them. i believe it is not the same case as ours. there may be a few filipinos respected, but most of them aren't.

^ discover the world and go back. be filipino. most have opted to be other nationalities because of poverty. for me thats lame[maybe even Colonial/Crab Mentality at work] Be different. travel the world, take the experiences and lessons with you and once you've earned enough money, go back and help rebuild the Philippines. Set up your own business/do charity. Die as a filipino.


3 stars and a sun
over stars and stripes!


When will this "American Dream" of Filipinos ever end?


(my opinions of course). :)

@Boybaha has something to say about that. Something about "having no borders..." I think I subscribe to that state of mind.

^ discover the world and go back. be filipino. most have opted to be other nationalities because of poverty. for me thats lame[maybe even Colonial/Crab Mentality at work] Be different. travel the world, take the experiences and lessons with you and once you've earned enough money, go back and help rebuild the Philippines. Set up your own business/do charity. Die as a filipino.
.
.
.
(my opinions of course). :)

On the other hand, having a different/second nationality (and the corresponding passport) facilitates travelling, perhaps getting a good job and earning enough money to go back. ;)

But I do see your point.

^ i kinda agree with what you said about the passport. As a Filipino passport holder, ive been discriminated countless times in immigration and customs, aside from the fact that there are so many restrictions and the need to get a visa for every single country i go to. im carrying 3 now. it's funny to see the reaction of the official go from book to book looking for the visa. The US Visa is in a different book as the canadian student visa, and different from the new one. And when you apply for a new visa (outside the Phils, which is what id usually do for Canada, Schengen), the official would be totally pissed and say "you can't keep 'circumventing' and shit." hahaha.. oh, in the france border with spain, i had to be interrogated and asked how much money i have in my wallet because of that 3rd world passport.

That's exactly my point, earn enough money to go back and do business in your own country, help make the country rich. :cheers: :)

It's irritating the differential way people treat you because of a mere passport. As if citizens of its own country will not plot against its own. The US passport really facilitates a lot.

^ that, or the TNTPhobia of countries when they see PILIPINAS in green. hehehe
US Passport is a lot of help, yes. :)

EDIT: sorry i dont have that.. i meant US Visa. lol

^ discover the world and go back. be filipino. most have opted to be other nationalities because of poverty. for me thats lame[maybe even Colonial/Crab Mentality at work] Be different. travel the world, take the experiences and lessons with you and once you've earned enough money, go back and help rebuild the Philippines. Set up your own business/do charity. Die as a filipino.

(my opinions of course). :)

good point... however if you live comfortably in the phils (definitely your source and standard of living are better) you can always stay. going abroad doesn't always have to be working from there. well, you can always travel, make no boundaries, learn new things, equip yourself with knowledge, be the person you want. that is truly healthy and it improves your well being many folds.

making it big in the phils with capital sourced from there is not a rarity, it is a matter of hardwork and motivation less the usual filipino "reklamo". the filipino diaspora is in most case not bad and is not best either. it's always fit to do the building and the healing when it is earliest.

there are boundless opportunities there only if one searches for it. also, there will never be success if there is failure at home.

It's irritating the differential way people treat you because of a mere passport. As if citizens of its own country will not plot against its own. The US passport really facilitates a lot.

very true and very discriminating. when i went to the states last september 2005 with my japanese colleagues, i was subjected to stringent security getting and out of the airports just because i held a filipino passport. my japanese colleagues freely went through without scrutiny. hahahahah, but i don't appear like a terrorist... i was certain they were more biased of ones nationality.

INS and etc. are just doing their job, this shouldnt happened if some portion of pinoy are, u know, being illegal :(

INS and etc. are just doing their job, this shouldnt happened if some portion of pinoy are, u know, being illegal :(

Well thats true, there is a grain of truth for the reason why they scrutinize Filipinos more often than the others. There are many cases of border trespassing and illegal overstaying in the host countries they visit who were able to integrate into the society by willing to be paid below the minimum wage thus 'stealing jobs' from the locals, taking advantage of the taxpayer's funded medicare systems and social security.

She cited India needs 4,000 commercial pilots in the next five years.


With the growth of the Indian commercial aviation industry, I wouldn't doubt it!

Brain drain, Brain gain
By GERONIMO L. SY

Migration is generally regarded as bad because our good people, the talented ones, leave the country instead of building it. But the reason for this phenomenon is that our environment is not conducive to meritocracy and even punishes performance. What are rewarded are connections and the sipsips.

This is true to a large extent by personal and anecdotal experience. As a result, our countrymen’s gifts, their brainpower, skills, tenacity and work ethic are put at the service of a foreign country. Who are left behind are the less competent and less enterprising. No better proof of this can be found in the dismal state of our affairs. (Might not all the politicians decide to leave one day?) The other reason is the development of the countries that absorb migrant labor. The US, being the land of immigrants, is the prime example.

I have a different view of the matter. While I concede the existence of the external conditions that make life so difficult here, that is graft, pollution, politicking, crab mentality, etc., it does not necessarily follow that migration has resulted in a brain drain as passionately argued by nationalists. By this I mean that for every person who leaves, it creates a position or an opportunity for some others. We have enough creative people to fill in the gaps even if working abroad is their main motivation to work hard. There are a constant renewal of human resources development and motivation to inspire people. These do not happen regularly enough in many of our red-tape organizations.

What about experience and expertise? There will definitely be disruptions in the concerned sector or industry. This is evident in the field of nursing. The poaching of our teachers from top schools is a persistent and grave problem. It is, however, not a nationwide net loss that will bring our country to its knees. It is an avenue for us to channel our efforts to man the ramparts, so to speak. We can always choose to dig our heels in and strive to make up for "lost" numbers. Gauged from any point in our history, we are in the best stage to move forward.

Filipinos who go abroad and excel prove that we are at par with the world’s best. It is a testament to our minds, our hearts and our hands. It also shows that given the right framework, we can succeed here in the Philippines. They are our ambassadors-at-large, our modern missionaries and the people who minister to the world’s sick and elderly.

Granting that the reasons for migrating may be for personal and economic reasons, this does not change the fact that we are there for those who need us. This is not hopefully rationalizing our intentions or romanticizing our actions. It is simply to say that the basic reason why we leave and stay abroad legally or illegally is because the host countries recognize the need for workers and not for altruistic purposes either.

Overseas Filipinos, by reason of kinship and familial ties, continue to touch base with those back home. They raise the bar of our national consciousness day by day regardless of regionalism and they are the vanguard to push for democratic ideals and good governance the way they see it and live it abroad. In nonliberal places like the Middle East, lessons continue to be drawn like keeping the faith stronger.

We see the balikbayan who, after years of toiling and perfecting their craft overseas, come back home to roost and build their local communities. This is another species of the exchange process that we have been witnessing and experiencing for decades past—people here and there realizing that there is much potential here if only we set our minds to it. There is no better template for brain gain.

We are not closing our eyes to the separation of the family, to the alienation of the migrant Filipino, or the threat to our social ties. Neither are we trumpeting the lifesaving feature of foreign exchange remittances. Most importantly, we are not arguing for the abandonment of our homeland or for more justification for those who intend to leave.

Simply, the whole debate of brain drain needs to be reexamined and carefully thought over. We have unquestioningly accepted this to be true as it is in line with common thinking and ordinary mindset. Perhaps the equation is not really about losing brains but actually gaining them.

We Filipinos may yet have the last laugh.

DID you know that Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the Philippine National Hero, was the first Filipino to enter the United States under a false name? When he arrived in San Francisco on May 1, 1888, he carried a passport showing his name to be "Jose Protacio Rizal." The problem is this wasn't his real name.

He was born the son of Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Realonda Alonzo. His birth certificate showed his name as "Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda." In his early years, when he attended grade school, he went by his real name, Jose Alonzo Mercado. (Imagine a Mercado province or a Knights of Mercado).

Unfortunately, when young Jose applied to attend college in Manila under his real name, his application was rejected because he was related to Paciano Mercado, his brother, who was a known activist and an associate of Fr. Jose Burgos, the martyred priest.

Following Paciano's advice, Jose changed his name to the first three names on his birth certificate, dropping his parents' surnames.

(After his execution in 1896, Jose's parents and siblings all legally changed their surnames to Rizal to honor his memory.)

At the time of his birth, Rizal's father was a rice planter, renting a large parcel of land from the Dominican friars in their hometown of Calamba, in the province of Laguna. The Dominicans charged exorbitant rents from their Calamba tenants and did not give receipts for the sums they collected so they would pay fewer taxes. (The religious orders, which owned vast amounts of lands, were not exempt from paying taxes).

When Rizal's father and the other Calamba tenants reported this tax evasion scheme to the civil authorities, the Dominicans retaliated by seeking their eviction and their replacement with non-Calamba tenants.

Rizal's father filed a lawsuit against the Dominicans to stop their eviction but his suit failed. One of the reasons Rizal was sent to Spain by his family was to file suit in the Supreme Court in Spain to overturn the Philippine court's decision on his family's eviction.

After Rizal completed his medical studies in Europe and obtained his diplomate in ophthalmology, he went to Hong Kong in 1891 to set up what in a short time, became a thriving and lucrative practice.

As soon as he was settled, Rizal sent for his family to join him in Hong Kong. On Dec. 6, 1891, Rizal's father and brother Paciano and brother-in-law Silvestre Ubaldo arrived. Three weeks later, Rizal's beloved mother and his sisters -- Lucia, Josefa and Trinidad -- also joined him in Hong Kong.

In Jose Baron Fernandez's book, "Jose Rizal, Filipino Doctor and Patriot," as translated from Spanish by Dr. Lilia Hidalgo Laurel, this period for Rizal is described as "very happy."

"The overall situations was felicitous and the prospects bright. They were all together; they enjoyed liberty; Jose earned good money, and Paciano found a little house for them with a panoramic view of the bay… The Rizal family lived in "Rednaxala Terrace" from which, according to Jose, his father contemplated the sea and watched the boats."

While on a short Christmas vacation to Singapore in December of 1891, Rizal met William and Ada Pryer on the S.S. Melbourne ship. After learning that Pryer had just been appointed manager of British North Borneo, Rizal proposed to set up a Filipino settlement in North Borneo, composed of the Calamba tenants who had been evicted from their lands by the Dominicans.

Before Rizal had set up his practice in Hong Kong, the Supreme Court of Madrid in 1891 rendered its final decision denying Rizal's petition to stop the eviction of the Rizal family and other Calamba tenants by the Dominicans. Shortly after the final decision, according to Rizal's sister, Narcisa, "their townmates had been driven out and deprived of their lands, homes and harvest of rice, sugar, etc. -- 300 families as of that date. Some lived under the shade of trees, and those who lived in towns took to the streets for it was prohibited to give lodging to the evicted."

The hardship of his family and townmates weighed heavily on Rizal's mind which is what prompted him to make the proposal to Pryer. In March of 1892, Rizal visited Sandakan, North Borneo and negotiated an agreement with Pryer whereby Rizal would be given 5,000 acres without payment for three years, with the British company undertaking the construction of buildings and the planting of orchards. After three years, Rizal was to pay three pesos per acre, which would not be a problem as Rizal's medical practice was successful.

But how could he bring the 300 Calamba families to Borneo? In April of 1892, Rizal decided to employ the direct approach and to personally ask the Spanish Governor General in Manila, Eulogio Despujol, for permission to allow the Calamba families to leave for Borneo.

On June 26, 1892, Rizal arrived in Manila with his sister, Lucia. They registered at the Hotel del Oriente, the most modern hotel at the time. Later in the afternoon, Rizal went to Malacañang to meet Despujol. Ten days of discussions followed during which Rizal presented his proposals and answered Despujol's questions.

In their last discussion on July 6, 1892, Despujol informed Rizal that he was under arrest for sedition and he was then incarcerated in Fort Santiago. On July 14, Despujol deported Rizal to Dapitan in far-off Zamboanga in the southern island of Mindanao.

Rizal was to spend four years of exile in Dapitan. While in Dapitan, Rizal continued to buy the equivalent of lotto tickets, tickets to the national lottery in Spain. He had been hooked to buying Lotto tickets while a student in Spain and the habit continued even while in exile in Dapitan. Surprisingly, it was while in Dapitan that Rizal won lotto money, which he used to buy land in Dapitan.

Rizal could have stayed in Hong Kong and enjoyed a thriving medical practice but his love and affection for the people of his hometown was such that he was willing to sacrifice his life and liberty for them by returning to Manila in 1892 at great personal risk.

Before he left Hong Kong in 1892, he wrote a letter addressed to his parents and siblings. He placed the letter in a sealed envelope which he directed to be opened only upon his death.

"The love which I have always borne for you is what impels me to take this step, which whether or not it is wise, only the future can tell. The success of an act is judged according to its consequences. Whether this step ends up favorably or unfavorably, it shall be said that it was dictated by my sense of duty, and if I perish in fulfilling it, it does not matter…If my fate is adverse, then let it be known by all that I shall die happy in the thought that with my death, I have gained for them the end of all sorrows. Go back to our country and may you be happy in her bosom. Up to the last minute of his life, I shall think of you and shall wish you all happiness."

This was the thought in Rizal's mind in the early morning of Dec. 30, 1896 when he was executed by a Spanish firing squad in Bagumbayan Field in Luneta. His execution sparked the formation of the Philippine nation.

http://www.inq7.net/globalnation/col_gln/2005/jan10.htm

I was reading the first parts of this thread. Anyway, gusto kong discuss yung sa akin naman.

I was born in HK and grew up all of my life there. But my dad is from The Philippines and I have Filipino in me. But since I grew up there I have adopted the culture and lifestyle of the city. On the other side I get to appreciate yung kultura ng Pinoy dahil marami akong katropa ang mga dating schoolmates na pinoy.

Honestly I consider myself to be more HKer than Pinoy or Malay but at least I'm happy and grateful to have Filipino in me. I'm also happy to be Malay as well because of my mom.

BTW, true that there are alot of Filipinos working in Hong Kong mostly as amahs but the city has a sizable no. of Filipino white collars :)

So actually you know 4 languages? You're not just an HKer, you are a citizen of Asia already. hehehe.

So actually you know 4 languages? You're not just an HKer, you are a citizen of Asia already. hehehe.

Unfortunately, I don't know two! English and some Tagalog. But right now, I'm taking a course on Cantonese :)

Wow. Cantonese is the Chinese dialect spoken in HK right? Is Mandarin also required too?

Unfortunately, I don't know two! English and some Tagalog. But right now, I'm taking a course on Cantonese :)

Wanch, not just some Tagalog. You are very fluent in Tagalog.

Lili!! my 'hoodmate. hehehe. :wave:

Wow. Cantonese is the Chinese dialect spoken in HK right? Is Mandarin also required too?

Cantonese is the main dialect in HK but the SAR government is emphasizing Mandarin in schools.

BTW, this is a plaque in HK commemorating Jose Rizal. It's in Central near Lan Kwai Fong

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument/graphics/trails/C_folder/C25.jpg

^^ Oh wow. Yeah, because Dr. Rizal stayed in HK back in the late 1800's when the Spanish authorities in the Philippines are hunting for him. Dr. Rizal's monument can also be found in the Fujian Province in China and in Madrid, Spain. :)

Oh you know what else that Manila can be found in different places around the world? There is Manila, Utah and Manila, Arkansas both are in the US. Manila is also the name of a town in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

How did you learn tagalog wanch?

How did you learn tagalog wanch?

1) My dad partly taught me.

2) I have alot of Filipino friends both in school and in my neighborhood. Most HK Filipinos are very fluent in tagalog.

3) From the Filipinos in Worldwide House :D

wow such interesting stories from Wanch and about Rizal. I never knew how intertwined with Hong Kong both of our countrymen are ! :)

The thing is, Hong Kong is one of the closest ally The Philippine can have in Asia! And Filipinos are well respected here just like in other places. But Filipinos and other minority groups in HK are also facing social problems like discrimination.

Here's one from The Lily Wong cartoon archives by Larry Feign

No Dogs, Rats, Roaches or Filipinas

NOTE: The cartoons on this page caused a diplomatic row between The Philippines and Malaysia. A Philippine diplomat in Kuala Lumpur noticed the second cartoon in Malaysia's New Straits Times (where "Lily Wong" appeared daily for many years) and faxed it to officials in Manila. The sign in the second panel was cited ("No dogs, rats, roaches or Filipinas in the lift"), and the cartoon branded as racist and hostile toward Filipinas.
****Newspapers and television stations in the Philippines picked up on the story and widely reprinted the second panel, accompanied by hysterical editorials describing it as proof of "Malaysian racist hostility toward the people of the Philippines."
****It blew up into a nationwide controversy. Finally, the Philippine government sent an official protest to the Malaysian government, demanding that the New Straits Times be censured and its cartoonist punished. The Malaysians and the newspaper declined to respond.
****A leading Filipina columnist based in Hong Kong sent a scathing article to several Philippine newspapers, pointing out that the cartoon had nothing to do with Malaysia, the cartoonist lived in Hong Kong, and anyway, had they bothered to read the entire cartoon series that week, they would have noted that the message was strongly pro-Filipino and anti-racist. Clearly embarrassed, no newspaper printed the article. However, the controversy swiftly died.
****Strange, but absolutely true.

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/980928.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/980929.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/980930.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981001.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981002.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981003.gif

A recent campaign in HK

http://www.eoc.org.hk/CC/temp/event/racialdisc2.jpg

i think they had the same sign in Singapore. Also in Israel they had a dictionary that had the filipina word and it was described as maid.

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981002.gif

Now, this is not right!!

Is Larry Feign a satirist and those cartoons exaggerations or are those signs and attitudes towards Filipinos for real?

The word 'Filipineska' was included in a Greek dictionary to mean as 'maids'. It caused quite an uproar among Filipinos.

Lili!! my 'hoodmate. hehehe. :wave:

I didn't see this earlier. Hi Ludwig!

Is Larry Feign a satirist and those cartoons exaggerations or are those signs and attitudes towards Filipinos for real?

The word 'Filipineska' was included in a Greek dictionary to mean as 'maids'. It caused quite an uproar among Filipinos.

Larry Feign's cartoons especially the Lily Wong strips are very political. And those about Filipinos are for real.

This strip is based on an incident that happened in HK back in the mid-90s when The Tregunter (a luxury development in Mid-Levels) fobade Filipina (or any nationality) amahs to use the main lift and instead use the service lift. The incident caused tensions between the well respected Philippine Association of HK and the management of Tregunter. The incident ended with they took off the sign.

@Wanch, how did your project with BBDO go? is it completed?

@Wanch, how did your project with BBDO go? is it completed?

The BBDO project turned out good especially the illustrations. I'll be going back to Manila next month to do a project with DM9 :)

The BBDO project turned out good especially the illustrations. I'll be going back to Manila next month to do a project with DM9 :)

let me know when you're around. maybe we can have coffee and talk shop.

let me know when you're around. maybe we can have coffee and talk shop.

No problem,

BTW, why is it that alot of Filipinos prefer to work in the Middle East especially Dubai? I think they're much better off in HK which is very close to The Philippines :)

^^ dude I don't think Hong Kong can accomodate over a million more ofw's! :)

The thing is, Hong Kong is one of the closest ally The Philippine can have in Asia! And Filipinos are well respected here just like in other places. But Filipinos and other minority groups in HK are also facing social problems like discrimination.

Here's one from The Lily Wong cartoon archives by Larry Feign

No Dogs, Rats, Roaches or Filipinas

NOTE: The cartoons on this page caused a diplomatic row between The Philippines and Malaysia. A Philippine diplomat in Kuala Lumpur noticed the second cartoon in Malaysia's New Straits Times (where "Lily Wong" appeared daily for many years) and faxed it to officials in Manila. The sign in the second panel was cited ("No dogs, rats, roaches or Filipinas in the lift"), and the cartoon branded as racist and hostile toward Filipinas.
****Newspapers and television stations in the Philippines picked up on the story and widely reprinted the second panel, accompanied by hysterical editorials describing it as proof of "Malaysian racist hostility toward the people of the Philippines."
****It blew up into a nationwide controversy. Finally, the Philippine government sent an official protest to the Malaysian government, demanding that the New Straits Times be censured and its cartoonist punished. The Malaysians and the newspaper declined to respond.
****A leading Filipina columnist based in Hong Kong sent a scathing article to several Philippine newspapers, pointing out that the cartoon had nothing to do with Malaysia, the cartoonist lived in Hong Kong, and anyway, had they bothered to read the entire cartoon series that week, they would have noted that the message was strongly pro-Filipino and anti-racist. Clearly embarrassed, no newspaper printed the article. However, the controversy swiftly died.
****Strange, but absolutely true.

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/980928.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/980929.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/980930.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981001.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981002.gif

http://humorist.net/lilywong/archive/strips/981003.gif
P***** ina tong mga to! MAMATAY NA ANG MGA GUMAWA DYAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Otakaw i understand where you're coming from. WE have to maintain being levelheaded,cool and unemotional. But if a filipino would say this doesn't sting their national pride then they're not a real filipino.

I dunno. But if you read the cartoon carefully, it's actually saying that it is wrong to have those signs. The protagonist is obviously outraged by the whole matter. It is probably a social commentary on what is happening in Malaysia/HK and the cartoonist wanted to opine that it was wrong. It actually really is an anti-racism cartoon.

ei theyre not racist against filipino here
actually, they look at us here in a higher hierachy

The cartoon strip was actually against racism but Larry Feign (the cartoonist and creator of Lily Wong is known for controversial comics especially during 1997).

But this incident actually happened and it angered the Philippine community in HK!

Actually, all of the strips there have anti-racist messages. The 2nd strip from the last still bothers me though.

not really about the comic strip but the actual real life incident being portrayed in the strip.

Actually, all of the strips there have anti-racist messages. The 2nd strip from the last still bothers me though.

Yeah, I know what you mean. But you can also look at it in another light. It is actually an affront against Hongkong. Saying how HK is becoming very materialistic and has the capacity to change people there, not necessarily for the better. It could be the author's way of conveying a message that living in HK can take away a person's values and the author is cautioning against that.

I dunno :dunno: but I guess the only person who knows the real meaning is the cartoonist. Hehe! But yeah, I see how it can bother people.

I actually find that cartoon quite funny especially the movie rights part. I think it tackles the issue of racism in a light-hearted way, while being still quite true to the facts.

Ha! I dont care if the comic strips have anti-racism flavours! No one gives that idiotic Larry Feign the right to do comic strips like that! Damn, who died and made him the president of the universe!? And who the hell are the Malaysians to do that to us Pinoys anyway, not censoring their moronic papers, they aren't in any inch higher than us, in doing so, are they implying that theyre superior? they shouldnt feel superior over us.! because frankly they are not...

Ban on skilled workers’ export sought

Fearing a repeat of the “brain drain” in the ’70s, a lawmaker has sought a ban or moratorium on the deployment of highly skilled workers abroad.

The proposed ban covers pilots, sailors and those in the information technology industry, according to Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Roseller Barinaga of Zamboanga del Norte.

Barinaga expressed alarm over the exodus of Filipino professionals to the detriment of the country’s own economy.

He said the unabated flight of skilled workers is practically an act of “piracy” by other countries which find it more expensive to train their own people.

Barinaga, chairman of the House committee on labor, cited the “unchecked migration of mission-critical” workers in the airline industry. This workers include pilots, aircraft mechanics, computer engineers and professionals in shipping, chemical, metallurgical and telecommunications industries.

“Workers with mission-critical skills are necessary to maintain and protect strategic local industries. If left unchecked, their migration, through valid deployment or poaching by other countries, will have serious national security implications and economic repercussions as they affect air transportation, tourism, commerce, construction and other economic sectors.”

Barinaga, a lawyer, invoked Sections 5 and 31 of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995 which, he said, empower the state to suspend or ban the deployment of migrant workers “in pursuit of national interest or when the public welfare so requires.”

He also urged Congress to direct the labor and employment, trade and industry and foreign affairs departments and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to consult these industries in drawing up appropriate measures to “regulate, control and arrest the brewing mission-critical state of personnel in the domestic aviation and other strategic industries.”

“If possible they should act to suspend or impose a moratorium on the overseas deployment of such skills and talents,” according to Barinaga.

The lawmaker said it takes years, albeit less costly, to train pilots, mechanics and engineers in the Philippines.

Foreign countries with acute shortages of such highly skilled workers find it “convenient and more economical to engage in piracy rather than train their own.”

Despite the continuing exodus of such workers to foreign countries where the salaries and benefits are much higher than what they receive in the Philippines, Barinaga said, government officials are not doing anything to stop the migration.

‘Millions of Filipino contract workers all over the world today are part of a long tradition of Filipino adventurousness and migration.’

http://www.malaya.com.ph/imges/nakpil.jpg
Carmen Nakpil- Writer and historian. Member of the illustrious Guerrero clan of Ermita, and reputed for her independent and unconventional views, her writing is marked by an urbane style, sharp wit and cool irony.

HISTORY is a bug more hazardous than malaria or diabetes, which you catch when nobody’s looking and remains with you all your life. Different people catch it in different ways.

Dr. Domingo Abella, a medical doctor who became an eminent historian and archivist, said it happened during a long trip to Spain. Blas Ople told me that, for him, it started as he gazed at his grandfather in his coffin, clad in his old Katipunero uniform. In my case, the version of Philippine history taught by a Spanish teacher at St. Theresa’s was in such serious conflict with what my Guerrero grandfather told me, that I turned into a trouble-making amateur historian overnight.

The subject of this column, Floro L. Mercene, succumbed to the contagion of history slowly, as a journalist in Manila, a Tourism Bureau officer, a self-exile after EDSA 86, when he published a newspaper for Filipinos in California. Driving around aimlessly north of Acapulco, he came across a billboard, "Parque Reyna Maganda." He stopped to ask questions and was hooked for life.

He went on to uncover a senior surnamed Maganda, a firm named Guagua in southern Mexico, pockets of users and growers of manga, ylang-ylang and tuba, villages peopled by descendants of Filipino crews in Spanish galleons and American trading vessels in Mexico and the US.

The biggest Filipino colony found in America in modern times was in New Orleans. One hundred sailors from Negros and Cebu jumped ship from a French schooner in 1763, and settled on the banks of the Mississippi, 100 miles from the city. They survived by catching and drying shrimps for sale and export. Today, this Filipino colony has 6,000 members, descendants of the crew of a Spanish galleon, who deserted when it stopped over in the Caribbean coast of Mexico, boarded a French schooner and deserted again.

These waves of Filipino migrants started in 16th century, and were called "indios" or "chinos", but most frequently, "Manilamen." Their story is very much like that of today’s OFW’s. They too were fleeing oppression in their land, were forced to sail on Spanish galleons from Manila, as part of the Spanish system of forced labor, called "polo," but, driven by the brutal hardships during the crossing (starvation, pirate attacks, hurricanes and disease) abandoned ship as soon as they hit land and made their own way in the world. The only crucial difference is that they were unable to send money or letters home.

After the Spanish opened Manila to world trade in 1790, many American whaling and fur-trading ships began to call at Manila. They too recruited indios Filipinos to serve as deckhands, cooks, cabin boys and servants. Between 1750 and 1850, many Filipino crew members ended up in Alaska, the eastern seaboard of the US., also London, Barcelona, New York, Singapore and San Francisco. Filipinos also fought in the American Civil War, bearing their distinctive Spanish-Filipino names and enlisted in the US Navy, merchant marine and cavalry, They were believed to have come from the whaling ships based in Boston and other New England states.

There was even a "Filipino Invasion of California" before it became a state of the American Union. But read all about it in Mercene’s book, "Manila Men in the World," published by the UP Press. Like all good history books, it is full of revelations and historical facts hitherto untold. It shows that the millions of Filipino contract workers all over the world today are part of a long tradition of Filipino adventurousness and migration.

History is indeed full of surprises, wisdom and power. When Rep. Ronnie Zamora was asked on TV what he had to offer vacillating congressmen, that could outweigh the cash, pork and appointments promised them, by Mrs. Arroyo if they foiled her impeachment, he answered tersely, "History." Their names writ in gold in the history of the Philippines.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/sep01/ednakpil.htm

Ha! I dont care if the comic strips have anti-racism flavours! No one gives that idiotic Larry Feign the right to do comic strips like that! Damn, who died and made him the president of the universe!? And who the hell are the Malaysians to do that to us Pinoys anyway, not censoring their moronic papers, they aren't in any inch higher than us, in doing so, are they implying that theyre superior? they shouldnt feel superior over us.! because frankly they are not...

Hmm... why should Malaysians be dragged in this... again? You made too many assumptions, friend :)

^^ Start from the beggining of the thread about the comic strip posted by Wanch.

A follow up article to the crazy ideas in an article Kimber posted. This is really crazy thinking in my opinion.



Boo Chanco
Philippine Star 03/03
Health workers
Dr. Ernie E emailed me a copy of a Reuters article published in the US about how the unabated migration of health workers to better paying jobs abroad would result in a the collapse of our health care system in a couple of years. According to the Reuters story, "over 100,000 nurses – including former doctors – have left the Philippines in the last decade and are now working overseas, studies show."

As a portent of the nightmare we face, the article points out "of the roughly 1,600 private hospitals in the country, only 700 are now operational due to the shortage of nurses and doctors." Some 80 percent of doctors have reportedly taken up nursing, to facilitate their migration abroad. It is tougher to get a job as a doctor in many developed countries but the large shortage in nurses, as much as 150,000 vacancies last year in the United States, makes the nursing option very attractive.

Reuters quotes former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez Tan who said the nurses who remain in the Philippines are overwhelmed by the number of patients they must take care of. At some hospitals on the southern island of Mindanao, there is one nurse for 55 patients, said Tan, now a professor at the University of the Philippines. The ideal ratio is one nurse to four patients, he said.

Personal economics makes the decision to migrate a "no brainer" for most health workers. The basic monthly salary for nurses working in public hospitals in the Philippines is around P9,900 ($190) and P7,000 for those in private institutions. In the United States or Britain, they would earn between P100,000 to P120,000. The entry level salary for doctors at public hospitals in the Philippines is about P12,500, while doctors at private clinics earn about P17,000 a month.

What is the response of Ate Glue’s administration? According to the Reuters article, Health Secretary Francisco Duque says the government plans to draw up a law to stop doctors leaving. "We’re focusing on keeping doctors here and legislation is the only way to do that. We want to plug the hole," he said.

That response is typical of a Cabinet member who thinks like a third world despot. That’s not surprising in his case. The Health Secretary is essentially a political appointee, who got his position as a reward for helping Ate Glue in the last election. He was previously head of the health insurance system and was responsible for the health cards which promised poor voters some level of health care in poorly funded government hospitals.

Of course government does not have the right to impose a travel ban on our doctors or any professional for that matter… that has to be unconstitutional. At the most, they can probably require those who benefited from government scholarships, like those who studied at the University of the Philippines, to serve for a number of years before leaving. Other doctors invested their own resources on their education and should have the liberty of seeking a proper return on investment abroad, if that is not possible here.

Basic economic laws come into play. If government wants to keep its doctors working at government hospitals, the pay structure would have to reflect that urgent need. Budgetary priorities must be changed to keep the doctors at home, even if it means laying off other workers in the bureaucracy whose services are not as vital.

The right to proper health care is basic. It is government’s responsibility to assure that every citizen has access to adequate health care or suffer the consequences of low economic productivity and a highly volatile socio-political environment.

Hmm... why should Malaysians be dragged in this... again? You made too many assumptions, friend :)

You idiot, the comic strips were published in Malaysia (New Straits Times), you should read comprehensively next time, you're the one who's making all the wrong assumptions. You are a Malaysian and you should be shameful for your fellowmen's acts of not censoring or banning the paper that published it. Why didnt they censor the paper, perhaps it would "feel great" if you mocked a country who is economically less superior isn't it? That's it, isn't it???? And it was nice of you to drop by, Perhaps you "sniffed" that there was something going on.

SINCE 2002, based on yearly flows, the Philippines have surpassed Mexico as the largest source of migrant labor in the world.

Filipino Ties, a publication of the Commission on Filipinos overseas cited four major waves of Filipino migration since 1565. The first wave was in 1565-1906; the second wave was in 1906-1934; the third wave was in 1945-1965; and the fourth wave was in 1965 onwards.

These four major waves of migration explain why the magnitude of our overseas Filipino population has been a major factor in making the Philippines as among the top receiving countries of migrant remittances.

June 1565 marked the arrival of the first Filipino seafarers in Acapulco, Mexico at the start of the 250-year Manila Galleon Trade. From Mexico, they moved to Louisiana in the present USA and established settlements along its bayous and marshes.

In 1781, one of the 46 founders of the City of Los Angeles in California was a certain Antonio Miranda, described as a native of Manila. In 1850, Filipinos became crewmembers of whaling ships wintering in Alaska's arctic coast and lived among Inupiat Eskimos.

In 1870, Sociedad de Beneficencia de los Hispano Filipinas de Nueva Orleans, the first Filipino social club in the United States, was founded. In 1883, a sawmill worker in Port Blakely who was listed only as 'Manila' was the first known Filipino in the territory of Washington. During this period, Filipinos were also in Europe particularly in Spain as students, professionals, or exiles.

December 1906 marked the arrival of the first sakadas in the plantations of Hawaii. Most of the sakadas were Ilokanos and Visayans, males, 16-22 years old, and with less than eighth grade education. In 1924, Filipino labourers moved to other parts of the U.S. to work in downtown hotels and restaurants, sawmills and railroad construction in California's agricultural plantations, and in Alaska's salmon canning industry.

May 1934 marked the signing of Tydings McDuffie Law which elevated the Philippines from a territory to a commonwealth, declared all Philippine-born Filipinos in the U.S. as aliens, and restricted Philippine immigration quota to 50 per year.

In 1945, a new breed of Filipino immigrants came to the U.S. They were military servicemen, students, and professionals in post-graduate studies, and other professionals engaged in white collar-jobs. In 1965, there was an amendment of the Immigration Nationality Act which increased the quota of immigrant entries from the Philippines. Filipinos were hired as construction workers in Guam, Okinawa, and Vietnam.

In 1970s, overseas Filipinos increased significantly with the labour demands of oil-exporting Middle Eastern countries and labor-absorbing economies in Asia. Filipino women took care of children and performed domestic work in booming economies in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and the Asia-Pacific (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia).

In 1980s, an increasing number of Filipino women went abroad as spouses or partners of foreign nationals. The 1990s saw an influx of medical practitioners (doctors, nurses, and physical therapists) to European and American countries.

In 1998, the Philippines was ranked sixth by the United Nations in terms of countries with highest level of migration.

Last Wednesday, August 24, Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) in Dumaguete City hosted a 'Symposium in Migration and Intermarriage Issues' with resource persons from the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

The figures in this column were taken from "Filipinos: Forgotten Asian Americans", by Fred Cordova, 2000 Report of the UN Population Division.

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dum/2005/08/30/oped/joy.g..perez.sensitivity.html

ITALY GRANTS 170,000 PERMITS TO FOREIGN WORKERS
By Pia Lee-Brago

MANILA, March 16, 2006 (STAR) - Italy has opened up job opportunities for some 3,000 migrant Filipinos after it granted 170,000 permits for foreign workers under a government decree passed last month.

The Philippine Embassy in Rome reported the Italian government has reserved 3,000 working-immigrant slots for Filipinos under Decree on Immigration Quota for Non-European Union (EU) citizens.

The embassy told the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that Italy had passed a decree authorizing non-EU residents, including Filipinos, to work in the country this year.

Philippine Ambassador to Italy Philippe Lhuillier said that out of the total number of working immigrants allowed into Italy, 3,000 slots have been reserved for Filipino workers.

Out of this number, 1,000 slots have been allocated for applicants such as managers, skilled and even unskilled workers.

Lhuillier explained the quota was made available only to countries with specific bilateral agreements with Italy.

The Philippines and Italy signed the Readmission Agreement in February 2004 with the commitment of the Italian government to extend a special quota for Filipino workers yearly.

Lhuillier added application forms for direct hiring were made available at selected Italian post offices since Feb. 18.

He explained that employers will have to fill out application forms to hire prospective Filipino workers in Italy.

For the meantime, the DFA Office of Migrant Workers’ Affairs Office (DFA-OUMWA) led by Executive Director Pedro Chan is assisting Filipino workers applying for work permits in Italy.

Chan said it is a routine for the Embassy to assist the Filipino migrant workers and make representations with Italian immigration authorities.

Many of those applying at post offices throughout the country were people already living and working in Italy illegally.

Chan said the Italian government has granted amnesty to illegal workers and most of the beneficiaries were Filipinos.

"(This is because) Filipino labor is highly regarded in Italy," Chan said.

Hundreds of thousands of foreigners, along with their employers, stood in long lines since Tuesday in Rome at post offices in hopes of snagging one of 170,000 authorized permits for foreign workers.

Italy’s Civil Protection agency said it had sent volunteers to post offices to help those who were waiting in line — some had spent the night there — distributing hot drinks and blankets.

"My husband slept all night on the street, I arrived at eight this (Tuesday) morning," said Marife Mendoza, a 34-year-old Filipino housecleaner who was seeking a permit for her sister-in-law, who is in the Philippines.

Employers also queued, either to apply for permits for their current employees or to seek permits for foreigners they wanted to employ.

More than 6,000 windows at post offices throughout the country started taking applications in the early afternoon, and each one was stamped with the exact time before being mailed to the Interior Ministry, and from there to local labor offices. Answers to the applications were expected within 20 days.

One thing I notice with some Filipino Americans or even Filipino Canadians is that they're so different from Filipinos especially their attitude and style. I respect anyone and I don't have a problem with Filipino Americans but their are some out there who are just narrow minded especially the youths.

Anyway, when I was in the US especially in LA, I met alot of Filipino American youths who have an attitude problem towards those from the motherland or even from neighboring countries to some extent. Me and a friend were attending a convention in LA and we stayed at a relative's place in Carson. A friend of mine out there invited us to a party in Torrance and some of the guys I met there didn't wanna hang out with us or would call us names like fob and stuff. I just think it's plain bull and very narrow especially if they have the same color and blood.

The worst incident was with my cousin. They immigrated to LA from Olongapo a few years back. He's attending high-school and was jumped by some Filipino Americans in his school. Fortunately they were caught and were jailed.

not all are like that those are really the ignorant ones. sadly some eve pretend not to know how to speak tagalog like martin nievera

not all are like that those are really the ignorant ones. sadly some eve pretend not to know how to speak tagalog like martin nievera

Very true kaya nga sinabi ko some at hindi all :)

But I did met some Filipino Americans in LA who pretended that they didn't know how to speak tagalog and it's very shameful.

Anyway, malaki ang tate and ibat iba ang Pilipino sa ibang cities katulad na lang ng New York or Chicago.

And yes, they're not all like that (like me, for example! :D ). In fact, there's been a lot of movement by FilAms (especially at the college level) to raise consciousness about Filipino and Filipino-American identity, history, and contemporary issues. Entire organizations are devoted to this cause. Let's hope that with those efforts, we can caulk that divide between the US-born and newly immigrated.

Filipino Canadians are somewhat different from Filipino Americans. I think Fil-Cans are more exposed to their own culture and language than Fil-Ams. If you go to the big cities in Canada, you'll encounter more Filipinos who speak their own language than in America. I think it has something to do with the Canadian policy of diversity (we are a bilingual nation to begin with) and cultural immigration. Like in Toronto alone, you can call 911 in dozens of different languages incl. Tagalog. Newspapers in Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, amd other major world languages are distributed all over the city. I think it also has to do with Filipinos being relatively new to Canada (most Fil-Cans have parents born outside of Canada), while in the US generations of Filipinos have lived there since early 20th cen. making many of them completely out of touch with their indigenous roots. :)

I think there is definitely an almost unavoidable disconnect for children of Filipino families who are born in the US. Just to think that there is already a significant apathy on many Americans towards the nature of their own political system and citizenship, so how much more for these Filipino-American children towards the Philippines? In any case, the parents should play an active role in terms of information and exposure. After all, the heritage of these children will always be with them. Sadly, there are also migrant Filipino parents in the US who would rather 'shield' their children from anything that is Filipino.

This 'shield' is rather peculiar isn't it? Some of it stems from parents wanting to quickly assimiliate into American culture, while sometimes it also comes from parents trying to forget the pain and hardships of their past lives in the Philippines.

One of the sad part is, some of them claim "Pinoy Pride" or they say they have pinoy pride in them. But yet they look down on Filipinos or anyone who just came to the US.

It's wack that they say they have pinoy pride in them but look down on the culture and people they're claiming pride in.

This 'shield' is rather peculiar isn't it? Some of it stems from parents wanting to quickly assimiliate into American culture, while sometimes it also comes from parents trying to forget the pain and hardships of their past lives in the Philippines.

Yes it is quite complex. Some of them, simply want to move on. Many have decided to completely erase their associations with the past and have accepted the US as their 'new' home. It's a harsh reflection of some of the realities of our country, and though this choice is lamentable, on the other hand, can we really blame them?

One of the sad part is, some of them claim "Pinoy Pride" or they say they have pinoy pride in them. But yet they look down on Filipinos or anyone who just came to the US.

It's wack that they say they have pinoy pride in them but look down on the culture and people they're claiming pride in.

I wonder if this attitude is rooted and associated with 'crab mentality,' which is very persistent in our culture.

Yes it is quite complex. Some of them, simply want to move on. Many have decided to completely erase their associations with the past and have accepted the US as their 'new' home. It's a harsh reflection of some of the realities of our country, and though this choice is lamentable, on the other hand, can we really blame them?

yes, and another one of them, the home country itself looks up to the US and American English as the ideal culture and language. That even those who never dream of going there to work and live and save their asses off poverty, are seemingly forced to do so. The officiality and institutionality of English and US WASP government in the Philippines is what caused a many to get into it and fast. Shielding them will help them get ahead of their paisanos, kababayan, countrymen. Where's the line that separates Fil-Am and Filipinos? Both are aspiring to be anglosaxon in culture and language. :) :nocrook:

Where as the Chicanos may not be accepted for Mexicanos, the Jap-Ams/Thai-Ams/Chinese-Ams for the real Orientals in their industrializing countries. :)

I did hear some of my younger cousins calling me a FOB (Fresh of the Boat) behind my back when I first got here. So ever since then, I've had a strained relationship with them. Things changed somewhat when they were able to visit the Philippines and we took them to some nice places and parties. All of a sudden they realized that they were not that "cool" after all. They obviously thought that people they encountered would automoatically be awed by the fact they are from the States. When that didn't happen, they were put in their place and are less smug now.

But of course that is just my experience with my cousins. I have met a lot more Fil-Ams who are very decent people. And some I have met here. Diba Cha, Kimber? :) I suppose it really is more due to upbringing more than anything else. Take my cousins for example. All their parents ever do is rant about how everything is so bad in the Philippines. Naturally, the kids grew up with no real pride or appreciation for their heritage.

Very good point manileño. The claws of assimilation towards the 'western ideals' are definitely in existence outside the borders of North America.

I always remember my discussion with a Filipino-American child who is absolutely convinced the Philippines would be better off if our country did become the 51st state of the US :eek2: .

Well Wanch, blame their parents for orienting or neglecting them in that direction. Substitute charity with cultural deterioration from the famous proverb: Charity begins at home, and you'll come up with something that is also true. These people are lost and have no sense of cultural belonging and identity. The Pinoy pride they claim is an empty one.

Well there are some Filipino American youths who are also discovering their roots. Just like in Carson for example. Alot of Fil-Am youths are learning traditional Filipino dances like the tinikling, etc and is becoming popular. Parang yung sa pelikula ni Dante Basco yung Debut.

My Filipino cousin from SanFo is one of the worst persons I've met!

@chot, totoo yun, they prejudge everything from the American point of view. They didn't get to experience the side of being a Filipino, hence making sweeping generalizations that Filipino culture is a trying hard American copycats.

Well there are some Filipino American youths who are also discovering their roots. Just like in Carson for example. Alot of Fil-Am youths are learning traditional Filipino dances like the tinikling, etc and is becoming popular.

Hence the importance of these organizations that cultivate cultural awareness and community consciousness (ooh alliteration! hehe).

Very good point manileño. The claws of assimilation towards the 'western ideals' are definitely in existence outside the borders of North America.

I always remember my discussion with a Filipino-American child who is absolutely convinced the Philippines would be better off if our country did become the 51st state of the US :eek2: .


that would require massive WASP (white) migration to the Philippines then, and more genocide and ethnic cleansing throughout the Philippine Islands just like they did the native American Indians and Hawaiians. :) [And the Australian aborigines and New Zealand Maoris for the Union Jack].

There was actually an attempt to annex the Philippines as 51st state:
The Filipino-American War 1899-1907 (the massacres of entire towns [and all Filipinos over 8 years of age] in Jolo, Balangiga, Luzon, etc.) But the little brown island people were just too many to get rid off. It couldn't pass as an American state. :) You wanna be a Hawaiian in Hawaii? A Sioux Indian in a Midwest reservation? :D
This is just my opinion. :nocrook:

Hence the importance of these organizations that cultivate cultural awareness and community consciousness (ooh alliteration! hehe).

Mapapatula tayo dito ah. :D

Mapapatula tayo dito ah. :D

Charity begins at home, and you'll come up with something that is also true.
The proverb you mentioned was rather poetic was well! :D

There was actually an attempt to annex the Philippines as 51st state: The Filipino-American War 1899-1907 (the massacres of entire towns [and all Filipinos over 8 years of age] in Jolo, Balangiga, Luzon, etc.) But the little brown island people were just too many to get rid off. It couldn't pass as an American state. :) This is just my opinion. :nocrook:
My mom didn't know that there was a Philippine-American War until I mentioned I learned it at school... :shocked:

that would require massive WASP (white) migration to the Philippines then, and more genocide and ethnic cleansing throughout the Philippine Islands just like they did the native American Indians and Hawaiians. :) [And the Australian aborigines and New Zealand Maoris for the Union Jack].

There was actually an attempt to annex the Philippines as 51st state:
The Filipino-American War 1899-1907 (the massacres of entire towns [and all Filipinos over 8 years of age] in Jolo, Balangiga, Luzon, etc.) But the little brown island people were just too many to get rid off. It couldn't pass as an American state. :) This is just my opinion. :nocrook:

Oh please Juan, kahit pa naman ngayon eh. May mga 51st state advocate group pa rin sa Pilipinas. Everytime they have exposure on the TV, mapapatawa nalang ako.

That's why yung pumunta ako sa tate, bihira ako nag barkada sa mga Fil-Ams o karamihan ng mga pinoy doon!

Di bale Wanch, pag punta mo dito, tawagan mo muna kami. Hang out tayo nila Lili. :D

The proverb you mentioned was rather poetic was well! :D


My mom didn't know that there was a Philippine-American War until I mentioned I learned it at school... :shocked:

Naku Char, you should know the Balangiga massacre and the mock battle of Manila to know the other side of the story.

Di bale Wanch, pag punta mo dito, tawagan mo muna kami. Hang out tayo nila Lili. :D

Thanks man. BTW, pupunta ako na NY this coming June :)

Actually I did met alot of really nice Filipinos in NY :)

Naku Char, you should know the Balangiga massacre and the mock battle of Manila to know the other side of the story.

Oh yeah, that's right. Any idea if they teach accurate history in the Philippines nowadays?

Oh yeah, that's right. Any idea if they teach accurate history in the Philippines nowadays?

In the Philippine history back in the Philippines, they do teach them. Here in America, I don't think we'll glorify anything beyond the sugarcoated accounts of what the Americans did to the Filipinos in our high school text books.

I don't think we will ever describe how they 'water cured (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino-American_War) ' the early Filipinos into submission here similar to the torture of humiliation that happened in Abu Ghraib prison.

Thanks man. BTW, pupunta ako na NY this coming June :)

Actually I did met alot of really nice Filipinos in NY :)

Cool, PM us nalang and we'll plan how things should turn out.

RESEDA, CA, IT is said here you would know one is a Filipino if you walk into an Asian convenience store, and you see her or him looking closely at frozen vegetables in search of malunggay. Or gazing longingly at a shelf full of bottled processed products that include bagoong, home-made sardines in oil, or at a pile of plastic-packed dried fish and assortment of eatables from peanut candies to hard-as-rock galleta cookies.

Recently, housewife Elizabeth Montejo who works as care giver, said that she had gone into a superstore and was suddenly “assailed” by a very distinctive aroma of ripe mangoes as she had never experienced it here before. It then occurred to her the smell could only come from Philippine mangoes. She followed the smell, and lo and behold, there were the mangoes in all their pristine “yellowness” only our mangoes could give.

“It suddenly occurred to me that the first imported Philippine mangoes allowed into the United States from Guimaras Is. in Western Visayas must have arrived, and the urge to buy and taste one overwhelmed me. But when I checked the price tag on one, I was taken aback. The tag says $2.99 each. Even with my deepest yearning, I could never bring myself to pay that much for a mango. Only very rich Hollywood stars might buy that.”

Her husband, Vicente, said the Manila mangoes that come in from Mexico are sold at very much lower prices, at $5.75 to less than $8 a box with 16 ripe ones. It is this one Filipinos who yearn for the taste of mangoes are buying, even if the mangoes taste like “imitation” ones, sweet but lacking the delicious juiciness and sweet sour flavor that only Philippines mangoes, especially the Cebu variety could give.

In a sense, I believe, after talking to other Pinoys since I got here last Saturday, that they would really have welcomed the entry of “genuine” Philippine mangoes into the US, and patronize it, but the price is quite prohibitive to those with only average incomes. It seems that the initial Philippine mangoes brought to Southern California were made on a trial run. But they were priced here at $49 a box probably of a dozen and a half per box. Computed in peso terms, the price is really prohibitive.

At the way it is priced, it would cost even more if the mangoes are shipped farther to the East Coast, and compete with other mangoes and fruits from other countries in South America and Canada. It is easy to buy a pound of seedless grapes at $1.10, compared to say, $3.10 even of quality Philippine mangoes. I think that whoever has successfully shipped the first batch of Philippine mangoes is trying to cash in on its limited supply.

But what the exporter may not have realized is that people here are also aware of the value of their cash, especially now that the US economy is not quite as rosy as it used to be in the late ‘90s. The average American consumer appears now to be more careful about the way they spend their hard-earned dollars. More so the Filipinos, some of whom are holding two jobs at a time, on top of a part time one on weekends. I’ve met a few of them who said they’re doing it because of “payables” back home.

Although it has been observed by some that Filipinos, like the other migrants, can also be wasteful with the rather cheap food here, still many of them give so much value to their hard-earned dollar. I observed that many hosts of weekend parties tend to over-prepare. Probably because it is difficult to estimate how many guests would turn up, especially since most of them live some distance from each other.
Because they have their own cars, and good roads, it is no problem for them to travel 100 miles to attend a party.

And so, it always happens that those who come, also have to take home part of the surplus food prepared. When they arrive home, they find that they have more than enough food. And so, it becomes a choice of which to consume first and which to leave for the next day. In the end, some of the food will just have to be thrown into the trash can, unless one has a pet dog or cat.

The bottom line, however, is that no matter how deeply our compatriots here miss certain things back home, it is just simply difficult to make them buy unreasonably priced commodities, even if these are luscious high quality Philippine mangoes.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2002/07/09/oped/godofredo.m..roperos.html

Interesting thread Wanch! :okay:

But of course that is just my experience with my cousins. I have met a lot more Fil-Ams who are very decent people. And some I have met here. Diba Cha, Kimber? :) I suppose it really is more due to upbringing more than anything else.
I agree with you Chot, it's in the upbringing of the kids. My parents made sure that I do not forget where I (and they, my parents) came from and instilled in me what being a Pinoy is like. Though I speak more English than Tagalog these days doesn't mean that I'm less of a Pinoy, does it? ;)

I remember a cousin of mine that was born here in the US and her parents taught her how to talk in Ilonggo, and she became fluent in it at a young age. But she got so conscious about speaking it around older folks because they were laughing at her (out of amazement/amusement perhaps), and I'm sure it wasn't meant to be cruel. Since then she stopped talking in Ilonggo as to not draw attention to her anymore.

Anyway, when I was in the US especially in LA, I met alot of Filipino American youths who have an attitude problem towards those from the motherland or even from neighboring countries to some extent. Me and a friend were attending a convention in LA and we stayed at a relative's place in Carson. A friend of mine out there invited us to a party in Torrance and some of the guys I met there didn't wanna hang out with us or would call us names like fob and stuff. I just think it's plain bull and very narrow especially if they have the same color and blood.


Perhaps you should tell your "friend" to choose HIS friends wisely since YOU'RE having issues about it. :)

One thing I notice with some Filipino Americans or even Filipino Canadians is that they're so different from Filipinos especially their attitude and style. I respect anyone and I don't have a problem with Filipino Americans but their are some out there who are just narrow minded especially the youths.

Anyway, when I was in the US especially in LA, I met alot of Filipino American youths who have an attitude problem towards those from the motherland or even from neighboring countries to some extent. Me and a friend were attending a convention in LA and we stayed at a relative's place in Carson. A friend of mine out there invited us to a party in Torrance and some of the guys I met there didn't wanna hang out with us or would call us names like fob and stuff. I just think it's plain bull and very narrow especially if they have the same color and blood.

The worst incident was with my cousin. They immigrated to LA from Olongapo a few years back. He's attending high-school and was jumped by some Filipino Americans in his school. Fortunately they were caught and were jailed.

Colonial mentality + desperation to blend in with the "Caucasians" = hatred of oneself and fellow Filipinos

There are Filipinos in the Philippines who are much worse than what is being portrayed here by some who obviously have issues. Now, who am I to judge these people? :) Bato bato sa langit ang tamaan huwag magalit! :)

Perhaps you should tell your "friend" to choose HIS friends wisely since YOU'RE having issues about it. :)

It's actually my cousin. The guys who jumped on him weren't his friends but they go to the same high-school. But my cousin look different from them or to say does not look "Americanized" especially when it comes to clothes and looks.

Like I said, it's very stupid that these mofos jumped on him judging by how he looked!

Filipnos and Asian Americans

By Brian H.
http://www.pinoyzone.com/fob.htm

Although Filipinos were the first Asiatic people to set foot in America, it was the Chinese in particular who first became prominent in the United States as farmers and railroad builders during the 19th century. Since then, all Asian peoples have become a lot more. Today, we see Asian people as doctors, engineers, and otherprofessional occupations. It is for this reason, among many others, that we Asians are stereotyped to be the"model minority." The new trend among young Asian American people is an attempt to dispel this "model minority" myth. They want to establish a new identity for Asian people, something other than the intelligent, rich people that many Asians in the United States are. They want to add a few other traits to that list, such as gangbangers, racists, import car racers, and the like. It seems as if they are trying to help the Asian population in the United States by dispelling the "model minority" myth and establishing a new identity for us. But what they are really doing is creating new stereotypes. Negative stereotypes.

Filipino Americans are the most prominent Asian ethnic group in California. There are over one million of us here. Unfortunately, many of our people are creating a bad reputation for the rest of us. Too many of our young people are turning to gangs. We have the highest teen pregnancy rate among Asian Americans. We discriminate against all kinds of people: white people, black people, Hispanics, other Asians, and even other Filipinos. To sum it all up, we have lost our Filipino values. I have no idea why this is true, but it is. It is a growing trend. It needs to end. The following are analyses of things that I disagree with that I see many young Filipinos and other Asians do on a regular basis.*

Many Asian people, particularly my fellow Filipinos, do not speak their native language. I see nothing wrong with that, since I do not speak much of my native Tagalog or Waray. When I see Filipinos my age speaking Tagalog or aanother Pilipino dialect, I think higher of them and I show more respect towards them. Unfortunately, I have seen many Filipino and other Asian teenagers do just the opposite. They laugh at them and call them "FOBs"(ancronym for "Fresh off the Boat," a term which is used as a joke also as a derogatory term). I have just one thing to say to that. How can they say they take pride in being Filipino or whatever Asian ethincity they belong to if they insult other people just because they speak the native language of the very culture they claim taking pride in?*

If you're a Filipino in America, or if you have some Filipino friends, then you have probably heard the term "flip pride." Let's go over the exact definition of this term. According to the dictionary, the adjective flip is a shortened form of flippant, which means "lacking proper respect or seriousness" (Source: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition). So what "flip pride" literally means is "taking pride in lacking proper respect or seriousness." Why do we Filipinos convince ourselves that we are "flips?" This term "flip" as a substitute for the word "Filipino" started as a derogatory term used by American naval officers to degrade Filipinos. I've also heard that it stands for "f*ckin little island people." One argument I have heard favoring the usage of this term "flip" is that it is used as an acronym for "fine looking" or "fine little island person/people." If "flip" can be used for the aforementioned reason, then the term should also be used for all people from islandcountries, such as Japan, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands (Polynesia, Hawaii, Guam, etc.). However, it is only used on Filipinos. There is one question that must be asked. Why do many Filipinos insist on using this term as a substitute for the word Filipino? Why do we convince our non-Filipino friends that this term is acceptable? Is it because, as Moonie from pinoylife.com said a long time ago, we are too lazy to spell or pronounce an eight letter, four syllable word? We Filipinos are, for the most part, intelligent people. Our country has a literacy rate of over 90%. Why, then, are we too lazy to spell or pronounce the eight letter, four syllable word that tells who we are and where we come from?*

If you are Asian, or you frequently associate with Asians, then you have probably heard or used the terms "banana," "Twinkie," or "coconut" to insult people who they think are "selling out" their race by associating with and living their lives like caucasians (bananas and Twinkies are yellow on the outside and white on the inside, which applies to most Eastern Asian nationalities; cocunuts are brown on the outside and white on the inside, which applies to Filipinos and Hispanics). These derogatory terms are generally used (at least where I'm from) on people who listen to "white guy" music, prefer American-made cars over imports, and/or do not dress or act the way that Asians are "supposed to".(which in reality means "stereotyped to"). Why do we label such people as "sellouts?" A sellout is a person who turns against his or her country and its people. Many people who are labeled as "sellouts" merely choose to live their lives differently; does that make them traitors?*

Asian pride. It's something a lot of us have heard, maybe even claimed to have. But what is it? Is it taking pride in being of Asian heritage? Or is it merely a rallying cry for racism and personal egotism? Most people,regardless of their race, express their national or ethnic pride by showing an appreciation for the history and culture of their country and its people. Although Asian people also express their pride by organizing and participating in such activities, some of them choose to express it in a different way. They use it as an excuse to be racist against those who are not Asian. Taking pride in one's culture and heritage is a very good thing; however, using it as a cover-up for racism is not. Some people even use Asian pride as a method of covering up their own egotism. Such pride is what leads to tensions between Asian people and people of other ethnic groups; tensions which could be avoided if people thought with their brains and not with their pride. Although some "Asian pride" people band together to help "unify" their people, the sad reality is that a lot of the confrontations involving "Asian pride" groups are with other "Asian pride" groups, which proves that they are not really out to help the Asian population, but only themselves and their egos.To be continued...

I remember taking an Asian-Am class two years ago. There was this guy who came to the US when he was in high school. He dresses like he's been in the country for a while but he speaks with an accent. During a session in which the teacher wanted her students to talk about racism and inter ethnic racism, the guy told the class that people around him would talk about his accent behind his back. Even the Fil-Ams he thought were his friends. He finally got "acceptance" for his accent when he joined a dance group in school where the group members overlook his accent for his really nice dancing skills.

Even though I've been in the country for over 10 years, I still talk in Tagalog, preferable over English. Sometimes when I speak in English, an accent would kick in without me noticing. Haha. Most of the Filipino people I've met dont even speak Tagalog and sometimes would look down when ever I would act "fobbish" to them. Kinda sad, huh?

Where can you learn Tagalog in LA, btw? A lot of my Chinese friends took Chinese language classes when they were younger and even my Japanese friend who is half white took Japanese in HS.

"Hongkong is my country even if it's not!" From someone who gets offended by Filipino Americans you sure are proud of your heritage. :)

@Wanch first post:

Yes that is true. Even my cousin who was born in the states. When he was younger, because our apartment back then was all Filipino, he would talk quite normally and only talked in sort of fluent english. I remember when his mom told me that once in school, he asked his teacher: "Teacher, can I please go to the BANYO" and i laughed so hard at that. But as he grew up, the more he became influenced with Hip-Hop. Now he talks like he thinks hes a pimp. And I hate that! But as for me, being a Fil-Am, I'm begging to go back to the Philippines!! I hate it here in the states!! (No offense to the 200 mil pop.)

"Hongkong is my country even if it's not!" From someone who gets offended by Filipino Americans you sure are proud of your heritage. :)

When I say HK is my country, I meant that HK to me is my country if it's not one. Ok HK is in China but I don't consider myself Chinese because I don't have Chinese in me.

OK I was born and raised in HK. I carry a BNO passport which I'm later planning to switch to SAR.

I'm happy to have Filipino and Malaysian in me but between the two, I more relate into the Filipino side since I have alot of Filipino friends and there are more Filipinos in HK than Malaysians. But I more associate with Hong Kong since this is my home and I grew up with the culture.

Am I proud to be Filipino, yes. Am I proud to be Malaysian, yes although sometimes I make criticisms of both countries.

Wanch some Filipino Americans are like that because they are very insecure. They have a bad case of inferiority complex so they take it out on other people that are "not-so-American" to make themselves feel better

When I say HK is my country, I meant that HK to me is my country if it's not one. Ok HK is in China but I don't consider myself Chinese because I don't have Chinese in me.

OK I was born and raised in HK. I carry a BNO passport which I'm later planning to switch to SAR.

I'm happy to have Filipino and Malaysian in me but between the two, I more relate into the Filipino side since I have alot of Filipino friends and there are more Filipinos in HK than Malaysians. But I more associate with Hong Kong since this is my home and I grew up with the culture.

Am I proud to be Filipino, yes. Am I proud to be Malaysian, yes although sometimes I make criticisms of both countries.


What are you? Buddhist? Christian? Muslim?

What are you? Buddhist? Christian? Muslim?

I'm Catholic. My parents are Catholic as well :)

nanloloko na naman si Wanch,

di ba hindu ka

nice thread.

second the motion with manileño's observations.

but i did have some not so nice encounter with pinoys here in toronto. first party that i attended concluded with with a pinay asking like this "at sino naman ito?" in a manner like me kasamang head to foot. i was just weeks old here then. that was in 2000.

another was a newly landed pinoy commenting about a pinay (wag naman sanang lahat) "ba't ka pa kakain ng kanin e andito ka na sa canada, dapat tinapay".

there's this familiar phrase "bat yung mga pinoy pag nasa ibang bansa lalo na yung talagang matagal na, e mababa yung tingin nila sa mga bagong dating?" i too was a recipient of such glares but i dunno if it's just awkward moment or something kaya nahihiya?

obserbasyon lang, immigrants adjust to their new environments in different ways. some or probably most, continue talking to their kids in the vernacular. i have this amusing comment from a teacher, "continue to talk to your kids in your own language, for surely they will learn english in school". so till now, i still talk to my kids in bisaya or tagalog, and they of course in english. for others, they clam up, forget their own culture and language. they try to be more local than the locals which they end up sounding and looking funny as comment by others.

when we end up in some other man's land, think of what we can contribute thereby enriching and already rich culture. for language and culture is not stagnant, it always evolves. we cannot be purist, along the way, something is being added or discarded.

and for the info of everybody, i will be having a group show with friends at the philippine centre, new york on april 10-21. and of course, my works will dwelve on my own experience as being an immigrant - titled "sa ilang mga nawong (in their faces)". yes these are faces in the canvasses with dialogues in their minds of the past he/she left behind. i also have included 17 frames of my dad's old passport (who was too a migrant, worked in indonesia for 16 years).

nice thread.

second the motion with manileño's observations.

but i did have some not so nice encounter with pinoys here in toronto. first party that i attended concluded with with a pinay asking like this "at sino naman ito?" in a manner like me kasamang head to foot. i was just weeks old here then. that was in 2000.

another was a newly landed pinoy commenting about a pinay (wag naman sanang lahat) "ba't ka pa kakain ng kanin e andito ka na sa canada, dapat tinapay".

there's this familiar phrase "bat yung mga pinoy pag nasa ibang bansa lalo na yung talagang matagal na, e mababa yung tingin nila sa mga bagong dating?" i too was a recipient of such glares but i dunno if it's just awkward moment or something kaya nahihiya?

obserbasyon lang, immigrants adjust to their new environments in different ways. some or probably most, continue talking to their kids in the vernacular. i have this amusing comment from a teacher, "continue to talk to your kids in your own language, for surely they will learn english in school". so till now, i still talk to my kids in bisaya or tagalog, and they of course in english. for others, they clam up, forget their own culture and language. they try to be more local than the locals which they end up sounding and looking funny as comment by others.

when we end up in some other man's land, think of what we can contribute thereby enriching and already rich culture. for language and culture is not stagnant, it always evolves. we cannot be purist, along the way, something is being added or discarded.

and for the info of everybody, i will be having a group show with friends at the philippine centre, new york on april 10-21. and of course, my works will dwelve on my own experience as being an immigrant - titled "sa ilang mga nawong (in their faces)". yes these are faces in the canvasses with dialogues in their minds of the past he/she left behind. i also have included 17 frames of my dad's old passport (who was too a migrant, worked in indonesia for 16 years).

Very well said Paul! I especially like that paragraph I highlighted, was that your own words or did you quote that from somewhere? BTW, nice seeing you here again, you've been MIA for some time. :colgate:

when we end up in some other man's land, think of what we can contribute thereby enriching and already rich culture. for language and culture is not stagnant, it always evolves. we cannot be purist, along the way, something is being added or discarded.

mine and mine alone. hehehe.

yups, was so busy doing so many things in my day job. then my nights were spent at my home office for 3 clients. yung isa medyo inaalagaan ko dahil i just had this client for 3 weeks now. hope all goes well with this client (makers of ethnic beverages).

^ey haven't from you, for a really long ass time, what happened, hows the Art emporium going on this April

hey Paul! WB. :cheer:

yea i agree. i know how it is in pinoy communities tho that never happened to me yet. i been around pinoys in some gatherings here like parties in my relatives', people of the consulate and i also been to a meeting of Filipino Centre. i always get the 'are you pinoy' stare hehe. and they can be so inquisitive. but, i dont know what else they might be thinking of me.. but i dont really care. Hehehe. :cheers:

hey Paul! WB. :cheer:

yea i agree. i know how it is in pinoy communities tho that never happened to me yet. i been around pinoys in some gatherings here like parties in my relatives', people of the consulate and i also been to a meeting of Filipino Centre. i always get the 'are you pinoy' stare hehe. and they can be so inquisitive. but, i dont know what else they might be thinking of me.. but i dont really care. Hehehe. :cheers:

^ey haven't from you, for a really long ass time, what happened, hows the Art emporium going on this April

salamat. tuloy pa rin. m leaving april 8th or 9th for ny. siguro mga 4 days lang ako dahil i also have to meet my former employer from davao.

I remember taking an Asian-Am class two years ago. There was this guy who came to the US when he was in high school. He dresses like he's been in the country for a while but he speaks with an accent. During a session in which the teacher wanted her students to talk about racism and inter ethnic racism, the guy told the class that people around him would talk about his accent behind his back. Even the Fil-Ams he thought were his friends. He finally got "acceptance" for his accent when he joined a dance group in school where the group members overlook his accent for his really nice dancing skills.

Even though I've been in the country for over 10 years, I still talk in Tagalog, preferable over English. Sometimes when I speak in English, an accent would kick in without me noticing. Haha. Most of the Filipino people I've met dont even speak Tagalog and sometimes would look down when ever I would act "fobbish" to them. Kinda sad, huh?

Where can you learn Tagalog in LA, btw? A lot of my Chinese friends took Chinese language classes when they were younger and even my Japanese friend who is half white took Japanese in HS.

Me too, Sometimes I would talk in the Filipino accent (mostly with other Filipinos) although Ive been acculturated in the American way of life and language. For me, if you can't understand my English sometimes, too bad. Either you bear with me or leave me alone but don't attempt to lecture me on my fobbish pronunciation. It makes you proud of your identity sometimes. Black, Hispanics, Chinese and other people have their accents too. It's a blessing that we know our grammar and can speak it fluently. I keep hearing 'ax' instead of 'ask' when they mean the latter while I usually pronounce the former.

When I say HK is my country, I meant that HK to me is my country if it's not one. Ok HK is in China but I don't consider myself Chinese because I don't have Chinese in me.

OK I was born and raised in HK. I carry a BNO passport which I'm later planning to switch to SAR.

I'm happy to have Filipino and Malaysian in me but between the two, I more relate into the Filipino side since I have alot of Filipino friends and there are more Filipinos in HK than Malaysians. But I more associate with Hong Kong since this is my home and I grew up with the culture.

Am I proud to be Filipino, yes. Am I proud to be Malaysian, yes although sometimes I make criticisms of both countries.


Hehehe sige na nga pagbibigyan na kita!! I hope you find happiness within yourself, mukhang litong lito ka na!

Pearl of the Orient Seas - The Philippines (http://community.webshots.com/user/jbkayaker12)

I don't live in the US or any other country, but I have friends who do! and they say that there is discrimination in there, but thank God those degrading acts didn't came from fellow Filipinos, but from the natives there. My friend who just migrated from Austrailia told me her aussie classmates were shocked that she knows how to speak great english, and they laugh at people who eat rice lol.

when we end up in some other man's land, think of what we can contribute thereby enriching and already rich culture. for language and culture is not stagnant, it always evolves. we cannot be purist, along the way, something is being added or discarded.

kuya Paul, saludo ako sayo!!!! kaya I always remind my friends on other countries never to degrate the Filipino culture or forget the Filipino language. Lagi tagalog ang gamit ko sa pag chat sa kanila, and I let my friend from abroad read the Hello Garci tape transcription without translating a word (ha! ang sama ko talaga) for her project since she's not so fluent on our language anymore, nasanay sa ibang bansa.

Hehehe sige na nga pagbibigyan na kita!! I hope you find happiness within yourself, mukhang litong lito ka na!

Pearl of the Orient Seas - The Philippines (http://community.webshots.com/user/jbkayaker12)
i agree with you, my friend. hes counfused to the max :D

I don't live in the US or any other country, but I have friends who do! and they say that there is discrimination in there, but thank God those degrading acts didn't came from fellow Filipinos, but from the natives there. My friend who just migrated from Austrailia told me her aussie classmates were shocked that she knows how to speak great english, and they laugh at people who eat rice lol.



kuya Paul, saludo ako sayo!!!! kaya I always remind my friends on other countries never to degrate the Filipino culture or forget the Filipino language. Lagi tagalog ang gamit ko sa pag chat sa kanila, and I let my friend from abroad read the Hello Garci tape transcription without translating a word (ha! ang sama ko talaga) for her project since she's not so fluent on our language anymore, nasanay sa ibang bansa.

salamat sista. kaya nga bilib din ako sa mga chinese dito, often, i can hear the parents talking in probably mandarin and kids answer them in english. i can understand the kids talking in english cause of their environment (like my daughter). till now, my kids understand the language, only that, i could have taught them dabawenyo (a mix of mandaya,tagalog, bisaya and ilonggo), but i'm not a fluent speaker (only a listener, edit, edit, only understands it), hehehe.

que horror, listening to some pinoys here. funny, you know the types, trying to spokening ingles to their kabayans when in fact, sama ng mga grammar, trying hard pa man din. i salute a friend who came here when he was four, and trying hard managalog. he would make it a point to talk in tagalog when he's with pinoys.

the church where i belong is composed of newly landed immigrants. probably yung pastor lang ang pinakamatagal, around 10 years na sila. you can see the change in their kids. mahiyain at ayaw magsalita in their first month. in about 6 months, most of the kids talk straight english. but like me, they talk to their kids in either bisaya or tagalog (some even in pangalatok or ilokano).

^parang ako hindi ako nakapagsasalita ng tagalog pero nakakaintindi lang :lol:

salamat sista. kaya nga bilib din ako sa mga chinese dito, often, i can here the parents talking in probably mandarin and kids answer them in english. i can understand the kids talking in english cause of their environment (like my daughter). till now, my kids understand the language, only that, i could have taught them dabawenyo (a mix of mandaya,tagalog, bisaya and ilonggo), but i'm not a fluent speaker (only a listener), hehehe.

.

yeah I'm one of those kids your talking about...except Filipino ang gamit ko sa pag sagot although I do understand mandarin and speak conversational hokkien lol because from what I see, Chinese parents and I'm sure most Filipino parents abroad like you insist that their kids speak to them in their native language, tapos may "or else" pang kasama hehehehehe. Pero minsan, pasaway din ako, di nakikinig sa chinese subject kasi di ko talaga maintindihan lalo na yun deep words, now I regret not even trying to listen and to put an effort to learn the language because I realized speaking mandarin or any other language is a great advantage when travelling since there are a lot of chinese speakers around the world.

I don't get why Filipinos need to laugh at other Filipinos who are "fresh of the boat". These Filipinos who know the native language have the advantage because they know at least 2 languages, kaysa sa mga mayayabang na noypi na pumunta na ng ibang bansa, puro ingles na lang ang nasa utak. For me, it's those arrogant Filipinos' loss, no matter how they put it. I learned my lesson, but I don't know when will they learn theirs.

Napakalungkot talaga na kapwa Pilipino, tinatakwil nila. I guess di lang sa ibang bansa nangyayari ito, pati rin sa sarili nating lupa kaya naging mabagal ang pag-unlad ng bansa. Lahat (well, ang karamihan) may kanya kanyang motibo, di nila iniisip ang kalagayan ng iba, siguro kasi gusto nila mabilisang paraang para malutas ang kani-kanilang problema, bintang dito, bintang doon, ako muna, hwag sya. They want the easy way out which is to blame someone else for their problems; these people didn't look at the bigger picture, and the consequences that came with it....anyway, nagiging off topic na ako lol

^ i thought FOB means Forward Operational Base,
where the heck i have been then:runaway:
:lol:

^^ hehe Tigi, pinoy ka ba o hindi. :lol:
minsan nahihiya nga ako pumunta sa goldilocks dito kasi ang ibang mga matatandang pinoy would stare at you from head to foot thinking theyre white, e pinoy na pinoy naman ang hitsura. kakatuwa nga minsan pag may nakikita akong dalwang pinoy na nag-uusap e nahihirapan na mag english pero banat pa rin :lol:
but whatever, i just buy sampaloc then leave hehehe

^^ hehe Tigi, pinoy ka ba o hindi. :lol:
minsan nahihiya nga ako pumunta sa goldilocks dito kasi ang ibang mga matatandang pinoy would stare at you from head to foot thinking theyre white, e pinoy na pinoy naman ang hitsura. kakatuwa nga minsan pag may nakikita akong dalwang pinoy na nag-uusap e nahihirapan na mag english pero banat pa rin :lol:
but whatever, i just buy sampaloc then leave hehehe

I rarely get the stare by most Filipinos when I was in LA for a few months till I started speaking. But honestly I don't really care at all man. In fact bihira ako tumambay at pumunta sa mga Pilipinong establishments. Karamihan ng mga kaibigan ko doon ay hindi pinoy and honestly I more got along with non Filipinos there.

Anyway, The United States is a melting pot composed of people from around the world. And alot of them still practice the culture and traditions of their home country just like the Russian American in the movie, The Dear Hunter.

There are alot of Filipinos in The United States who still practice their culture. There was an Ilokano wedding I attended in Torrance in which they still pin $$$ on the clothes of the bridge/groom. It's ok if there are some Filipinos who try to be Americanized but they shouldn't forget their roots and at least give respect to their native country.

Whenever i meet pinoys in Chicago who just got to the country i welcome them with a big bear hug and offer them my assistance whenever possible. First it scares them but then they come to realize that i am genuine. hehehe.

^^ hehe Tigi, pinoy ka ba o hindi. :lol:
minsan nahihiya nga ako pumunta sa goldilocks dito kasi ang ibang mga matatandang pinoy would stare at you from head to foot thinking theyre white, e pinoy na pinoy naman ang hitsura. kakatuwa nga minsan pag may nakikita akong dalwang pinoy na nag-uusap e nahihirapan na mag english pero banat pa rin :lol:
but whatever, i just buy sampaloc then leave hehehe

hi insan! just a q. how do you know they are thinking they are or pretending to be white when they stare at you? Baka naman naga-guapohan lang sila sa yo o ano (parang sa akin :lol: j/k). When i said i always get the 'are you pinoy' stare i mean i think they just try to figure if im pinoy or not.

I think English language is not much of an issue in Pinoy communities in Europe. (esp. outside UK). In my last travel to France, since Pinoys are very few in continental Europe, I noticed that the Pinoys are even more delighted to hear you speak Tagalog with them. Since French is the language, you approach them in French and to know if they really are Filipino, you don't initiate chat in English, but in Tagalog. It's even more weird in Spain. Not only do many Filipinos resemble the Spanish and Latino locals, it's also hard to identify the pinoys because they all speak Spanish (even among themselves). It's funny cos majority of them also suffer from poor English. So it's either you talk to them in Spanish or in Tagalog (which is of course closer to Spanish so they don't lose it). :) I just dont know the situation there in Switzerland, Quietlife Andy?

Whenever i meet pinoys in Chicago who just got to the country i welcome them with a big bear hug and offer them my assistance whenever possible. First it scares them but then they come to realize that i am genuine. hehehe.

Wish I knew you then Ben! My first few months here in the US, I was given the cold shoulder and didn't feel welcome at all. A crushing feeling for a teenager hoping to make new friends in a strange and foreign land, maybe that's why I had more non-Filipino friends then. So whenever I meet newly arrived Pinoys and are still ignorant (I think that was a harsh word to use but I can't think of any to use in its place) of the ins and outs of living here in America, I go out of my way to make them feel welcome and at home in their new life.

^^ good to hear that from you ben & kimber. i too was fortunate to have my barkada who was there to drive me around for my interviews and what not. a salute to all pinoys who go out of their way to make the lives of newly landed pinoys more bearable at least!

^^ which reminds of that TFC station ID by Lea Salonga.
Mabuhay ang Pinoy sa Mundo! :D

good morning tontonian paul! :)

I think English language is not much of an issue in Pinoy communities in Europe. (esp. outside UK). In my last travel to France, since Pinoys are very few in continental Europe, I noticed that the Pinoys are even more delighted to hear you speak Tagalog with them. Since French is the language, you approach them in French and to know if they really are Filipino, you don't initiate chat in English, but in Tagalog. It's even more weird in Spain. Not only do many Filipinos resemble the Spanish and Latino locals, it's also hard to identify the pinoys because they all speak Spanish (even among themselves). It's funny cos majority of them also suffer from poor English. So it's either you talk to them in Spanish or in Tagalog (which is of course closer to Spanish so they don't lose it). :) I just dont know the situation there in Switzerland, Quietlife Andy?Here in Geneva, most Filipinos would speak to each other in Tagalog (or their own language/dialect), though, of course, English is also an option. I think most pinoy kids who grow up here are taught to speak tagalog (or smatterings thereof) and english. They learn french from their non-pinoy friends and school. Happily, I don't think anyone turns their nose up to other pinoys not speaking french.

^^ which reminds of that TFC station ID by Lea Salonga.
Mabuhay ang Pinoy sa Mundo! :D

good morning tontonian paul! :)

magandang umaga din juan! musta na? anong bago?

If you have met @Wanch in person as I did and some Manila-based SSCers here, you will know that he is a very down-to-earth and grounded person. You will be amazed that even if he is not born and raised in the Philippines and is only half-Filipino by lineage, he is very fluent in Tagalog. He is a mestizo so you wouldn't be able to discern at first what his ethnicity or nationality is. He is a hapa. Ang galing-galing nga niya mag-Tagalog. Parang local. Hindi siya pa-Ingles ingles sa iyo. Ang dami niyang alam na subject-matter. Hindi kayo mauubusan ng pag-uusapan. No chip on his shoulder. :)

^^ hehe parang si jonduffy ba yun? pero halos hindi na mukhang pinoy talaga. :lol:

@paulkrps oi ayos lang. wala namang bago. puro replay. hehe j/k kumusta ang scarbs?

Hindi. Si Jon Duffy mukha talagang caucasian. You will not be able to detect he is half-pinoy until he he speaks street Tagalog.

Wanch has fair Asian skin with yellow undertone, but he does not look Chinese.

^^ hehe parang si jonduffy ba yun? pero halos hindi na mukhang pinoy talaga. :lol:

@paulkrps oi ayos lang. wala namang bago. puro replay. hehe j/k kumusta ang scarbs?

scarbs is ok. teka baka ma ot. me iba very caucasian ang features tulad ng pinsan ng lola ko (half kastila) pero kung magdabawenyo (salita sa davao oriental), magugulat ka.

ako naman they used to tease me and call me 'bumbay' or 'middle eastern'/'palestinian' in pinas. :lol: but do i really look it? i sometimes don't get why most of the times pinoys here and places i been to outside pinas can't tell im pinoy at first glance. tapos tatagalugin ko sila tapos magugulat. eh laking pinas to! and im not mestizo in the color category either. :dunno:

You have a Meditteranean or Continental look @Juan. You have dark, deep-set almond-shaped eyes, wavy hair and are tall. You're blessed with the golden brown skin. :)

ako naman they used to tease me and call me 'bumbay' or 'middle eastern'/'palestinian' in pinas. :lol: but do i really look it? i sometimes don't get why most of the times pinoys here and places i been to outside pinas can't tell im pinoy at first glance. tapos tatagalugin ko sila tapos magugulat. eh laking pinas to! and im not mestizo in the color category either. :dunno:

Sometimes it's not in the way you look but the way you carry yourself in public, you might have that air of European aristocracy with your mannerisms.

You have dark, deep-set almond-shaped eyes, wavy hair and are tall. You're blessed with the golden brown skin. :)
What an accurate description Ate Lili! And a very enticing description if you say it outloud. :lol:

^^ Are you swooning Tsari? :lol:

lol. no, no intriga and no swooning here. :lol: it's just a very nice description. like, if i were to hear someone describe a dessert as a decadent, moist, scrumptiously sweet piece of heaven, and i hadn't seen it, i'd be just as enticed. :eat: :D

LOL@LILI & CHA :rofl: they say i look like my lolo. teka lang. im gonna look for a pic.

@kimmy oh.. really? i knew it. i look suplado :( but what about the bumbay/middle eastern part? naconscious ako bigla. ano ba mannerism ko? :)

^^ Well, I can't vouch for your mannerisms because we haven't met in person yet. But the impression I did get was that you're a seasoned and well educated traveller, always looking for new heights to reach and conquer. As for looking "suplado," in the photos that you don't smile/grin, you can be mistaken as one.

^^ thanks for being honest kimmy. i guess it's because we met in a forum where all we do is talk about intellectual and cultural stuff (stuff we take from our experiences) which don't really matter IRL when we deal with friends and etc. :(

You look very different from when you were a kid, Juan. And you don't look like your bro at all. And I agree with Kimber, you could be mistaken as "masungit" in your pics. But of course we all now know that you are not.

Haha did I miss something? Where's Juan's kid photos? :dunno:

hi chot!

You look very different from when you were a kid, Juan. And you don't look like your bro at all. And I agree with Kimber, you could be mistaken as "masungit" in your pics. But of course we all now know that you are not.

I thought you were referring to me Chot, my eyes skipped the first part of your post. :lol:

Okay....Tagalog lesson time!

Suplado = Snob?
Masungit = Ill-tempered?

good morning chot! :)

@cha. ram and i were schoolmates before. his bro was my classmate, my bro his.

Ohh schoolmates. Gotcha.

Here's a question for you folks here in the US (or to any country for that matter). What made you leave the Philippines and emigrate?

^ My answer is in post #33 of Photo Album XVIII

I thought you were referring to me Chot, my eyes skipped the first part of your post. :lol:

Okay....Tagalog lesson time!

Suplado = Snob?
Masungit = Ill-tempered?

I think a more accurate translation for masungit is grouchy.

Ill tempered reminds me of Austin Powers. the ill-tempered mutated sea bass! :lol:

Here's a question for you folks here in the US (or to any country for that matter). What made you leave the Philippines and emigrate?
ewan ko. sama lang ako sa parents ko hehehe :lol:
parent nalang pala ngayon, just my mom. she'll be the only parent that i will have from now on.. :|

^^ Why's that, matt? (Goes without saying that you don't have to answer that if you don't want to.)

Here's a question for you folks here in the US (or to any country for that matter). What made you leave the Philippines and emigrate?

I don't know about immigrating but the reason i left the Philippines and chose to study/live in Canada is because i wanted to be somebody hehe and because there was nothing much going on for me in the Phils. I didn't end up at the top of the class as i had planned on earlier in life hehe (only did so-so in uni). So the best jobs and careers just didn't come. I was 3 mos fresh grad and the only work i had tried was Call Centre (only lasted 2 weeks there tho). I think i realized soon that nothings going to happen if i don't do something different and/or i don't take further studies to get the career i want? And at the same time, i want change. So ayun. Hehehe I think my parents also liked the idea of having an expat child. :lol:

@ramvingar. kahanga hanga naman pala ang talambuhay mo. Saludo! feeling ko parang Big Brother na tong Samahan hahaha!

@chot: It is the reason why we should count our blessings as well.

As for me, the reason I went to US is simply because my mother took us- family. Like others, its the economic opportunities available in this country that made us immigrate here.

Here's a question for you folks here in the US (or to any country for that matter). What made you leave the Philippines and emigrate?

Is it ok if I answer this one though I'm not from the US. The company where my dad worked decades back assigned him in HK. When he left the company, he decided to remain since he thought that we would be better off growing up here.

@ramvingar. kahanga hanga naman pala ang talambuhay mo. Saludo! feeling ko parang Big Brother na tong Samahan hahaha!

Thanks Juan. All of us have our tales of sacrifice and hardship. It just varies in degrees I guess. I am not trying to be "pa-humble" but I sincerely believe that almost anyone in the same predicament would have done the same. Like I said, I have met many people here who have similar stories. (O di ba? Pang Beauty Pageant ang sagot!) :lol:

Whenever my parents try to express their gratitude to me, I simply say, "You have yourselves to thank because you are the ones who brought me up this way." :)

@Louie - And I do. Especially because my parents are still quite healthy. :)

Is it ok if I answer this one though I'm not from the US. The company where my dad worked decades back assigned him in HK. When he left the company, he decided to remain there since he thought that we would be better off growing up in HK.


Hi Wanch. You are the half Pinoy and half Malaysian, right? Care to tell us how your parents met? I'm just interested because a Filipino-Malaysian pairing is quite rare. Thanks!

Hi Wanch. You are the half Pinoy and half Malaysian, right? Care to tell us how your parents met? I'm just interested because a Filipino-Malaysian pairing is quite rare. Thanks!

Filipino-Malaysian parings are very common but mine was rare since it's my dad who is Filipino. My parents met each other at a banking conference in Singapore. Both parents worked at different companies but met each other there. They later on got married and settled down in Manila. Later on my parents moved to HK.

Oh! thanks! Hehe! Never heard of Filipino-Malaysian pairings before. Cool!

Here's a question for you folks here in the US (or to any country for that matter). What made you leave the Philippines and emigrate?

Mine is family reason as well. My parents moved to Canada, then US, mainly for financial opportunities. My brother and I followed, eventually settling down in Portland.

he would make it a point to talk in tagalog when he's with pinoys.


Here's a question regarding the comment above: How about when you're in a work place setting?

Somehow I do find it quite inapproriate, unprofessional to speak in your native language when you're surrounded by co-workers who obviously, are excluded out of the conversation.

One thing I notice with some Filipino Americans or even Filipino Canadians is that they're so different from Filipinos especially their attitude and style. I respect anyone and I don't have a problem with Filipino Americans but their are some out there who are just narrow minded especially the youths.

Anyway, when I was in the US especially in LA, I met alot of Filipino American youths who have an attitude problem towards those from the motherland or even from neighboring countries to some extent. Me and a friend were attending a convention in LA and we stayed at a relative's place in Carson. A friend of mine out there invited us to a party in Torrance and some of the guys I met there didn't wanna hang out with us or would call us names like fob and stuff. I just think it's plain bull and very narrow especially if they have the same color and blood.

The worst incident was with my cousin. They immigrated to LA from Olongapo a few years back. He's attending high-school and was jumped by some Filipino Americans in his school. Fortunately they were caught and were jailed.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENT. Even though this has started coming into awareness (and jokes) many years ago now, it's nice to see someone discussing it. Actually, I guess I could say that I am an advocate of this matter. LOL. It's so sad. I'm a filipino born and raised in canada but I'm always pinoy. Anyways, the sad truth is I can't stand almost all of them from Canada or America. I only like Pinoys from the Philippines. Why? Because they're natural, they're filipino. I can't stand how the abroad ones (not all are bad, many are truly pinoy) go around acting like ghetto and low. I can't even stand the fact that they are dragging our people by the mud and helping to create a stereotype. Yet they go around saying pinoy pride. WHATEVER! Sometimes I look at them and even think they would have been better off to have stayed in the Philippines (about half aren't born abroad) to save their personality and to save their people. Frankly, this situation is a joke.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENT. Even though this has started coming into awareness (and jokes) many years ago now, it's nice to see someone discussing it. Actually, I guess I could say that I am an advocate of this matter. LOL. It's so sad. I'm a filipino born and raised in canada but I'm always pinoy. Anyways, the sad truth is I can't stand almost all of them from Canada or America. I only like Pinoys from the Philippines. Why? Because they're natural, they're filipino. I can't stand how the abroad ones (not all are bad, many are truly pinoy) go around acting like ghetto and low. I can't even stand the fact that they are dragging our people by the mud and helping to create a stereotype. Yet they go around saying pinoy pride. WHATEVER! Sometimes I look at them and even think they would have been better off to have stayed in the Philippines (about half aren't born abroad) to save their personality and to save their people. Frankly, this situation is a joke.

There was a chatroom where I chatted years back and I even see beefs with Filipino Americans and Filipino Canadian which to me is pretty wack!!!

And about Filipinos acting like ghetto, there's alot of them in LA. In fact marami rin yan dito sa HK pero hip-hop nga lang at tagalog pa rin ang usapan :D

Guess it's my turn. To begin with, I didn't even know that we (my family) were petitioned to be US immigrants by uncle, I only found out when I was in the 6th grade. My parents said we didn't have to move because we were living comfortably back in the Philippines, it was just my grandfather's dying wish to see his family whole again (we were the only ones left back there then). Sure enough, a year after we arrived my grandfather passed on. We were all set to go back but my mom's siblings convinced her to stay and so here we are and the rest is history. I agree with Chot, life here is more convenient, but everyone seems more happier there in the Philippines.

^^ My sister's put in a petition for me and our other siblings. I'm not holding my breath though, I think we only have to wait 20 years or so. :rofl:

^^ Isn't the sibling to sibling petition called the "Fifth Preference?" Yeah, it'll take about that long because of the back-log too.

^^ My sister's put in a petition for me and our other siblings. I'm not holding my breath though, I think we only have to wait 20 years or so. :rofl:

i remember my barkada with the same situation. only that di makapag-antay, so nag-aplay as tourist. ilang beses din nadeny. nung makalusot, lipad kagad for the u.s. di nga nagpaalam samin e. hihihi. after that nag-tnt, then hanggang naging naging legal sya.

yung isang kaibigan ko, me petisyon din. ilang taon din nyang kinukwento sa amin ang petisyon nya. kaso, he passed away away 2 years ago. nadismaya ang nanany nya dahil yung mga kaibigan nya like me, nauna pang umalis.

I agree with Chot, life here is more convenient, but everyone seems more happier there in the Philippines.

Very true, Chot and Kimber. I'm glad it isn't just me who thinks like that; for awhile I thought I was going crazy for longing to be back in the Philippines so bad. For a couple of months after my return from my summer abroad program there, I was so torn. I would sit in my room and look at the things I owned, and I realized that in the Philippines, all I had was my maleta, and I was content and happier than I've ever been. I really couldn't talk about it with my friends here cause I felt they didn't understand me. Only my batchmates from the program understood where I was coming from. Life here is convenient and comfortable, but it somehow lacks that x factor of the Philippines.

Of course, I'm still appreciative of my life and opportunities here in the states. It's just that tug-of-war between what makes you happy and what pays the bills (sadly they don't always align). War of hearts and minds, as Bamboo would say. Hehe.

I would sit in my room and look at the things I owned, and I realized that in the Philippines, all I had was my maleta, and I was content and happier than I've ever been.

hey, that gave me some insight. when i came here to toronto, all i had was 2 bags and my portfolio. just imagine in 5 years, marami ding blessings ang binigay ng panginoon.

sometimes i would whine about problems i have. and i am always being rebuked and reminded about when i came. the Lord is good indeed, all the time.

Of course, I'm still appreciative of my life and opportunities here in the states. It's just that tug-of-war between what makes you happy and what pays the bills (sadly they don't always align). War of hearts and minds, as Bamboo would say. Hehe.

It is a tug-of-war, sadly I think that material happiness always wins the battle though.