Riding the same bus

CHICAGO--This was the scene Saturday night in front of the Radisson O'Hare Hotel as NaFFAA delegates awaited the arrival of buses that would take us to the Hyatt Regency Hotel for the Filipiniana Gala Night. A group of Filipino-American Republicans were clustered around Susan Bonzon Ralston, executive assistant of White House senior adviser Karl Rove, to have their Kodak moments. After a group photo, they enthusiastically started chanting, "Four more years! Four more years!"

Not to be outdone, Filipino-American Democrats, also waiting for the same bus, counter-chanted, "Four more months! Four more months!"

Would this chanting and counter-chanting result in the same bitter partisan rancor that has characterized the presidential elections?

Hardly. After the chanting, which were done with the parties smiling, both groups started laughing and shaking hands with each other as we boarded the same bus to the Gala.

The 600 delegates attending the 6th National Empowerment Conference of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) in this Windy City all understood that despite regional, generational or partisan differences, we were all riding the same bus. It was the bus of political empowerment for the Filipino community.

At this year's conference, the main issue discussed by delegates from the 12 NaFFAA regions from New York to Hawaii was the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill, HR 677, and the main thrust of strategy sessions was on how to secure its passage this year.

The delegates were informed that, as of last count, 192 Representatives had signed up as co-sponsors of the resolution, including all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Only 26 more Representatives were needed to secure passage of the bill. The problem is that of the 192 co-sponsors, 180 are Democrats and only 12 are Republicans despite the fact that the main sponsor of HR 677 is Rep. Randy Cunningham, a California Republican.

But the bigger problem, the delegates were told, was that the Republican leadership, led by House majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), has refused to move HR 677 out from its virtual prison in the Veterans Subcommittee of Representative Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) to the House Floor for a vote. Even if a majority of House Members were to sign on as co-sponsors, if the bill does not move to the House Floor for a vote, it will not pass.

HR 677, supporters are convinced, will have more than enough votes to pass the House if it ever gets to a vote. After all, as many have pointed out, "Who in their right mind would vote against bill that would restore health and pension benefits to a dwindling number of deserving veterans?"

The key to getting DeLay and the Republican House Leadership to pushing HR 677 to a House Vote is the White House. If President Bush were to back the bill, he could easily get the GOP House leaders to release it from its subcommittee confinement and get the House to vote on it. With his backing, the House would approve it.

The problem was how to get President Bush to support HR 677. Many NaFFAA delegates saw the key was in the hands of a guest speaker scheduled to speak at the Gala Night, Susan Ralston.

Susan Ralston is easily the most influential Filipino-American in the Bush Administration. As the only Fil-Am with an office in the West Wing as executive assistant to Karl Rove, Susan is involved in overseeing the strategic planning, political affairs, public liaison, and inter-governmental affairs of the White House.

At a press conference earlier in the day, Ms. Ralston was asked if President Bush supported HR 677. She replied that the question should be directed to the President. She was then asked if she personally supported HR 677. She replied that she does "not do policy."

In her speech at the Gala Night, Ms Ralston talked about how it feels to work for a "Rock Star President. He cares about your issues," she assured her audience.

In her response at the conclusion of the program, NaFFAA national chairperson Loida Nicolas Lewis pointedly asked Susan Ralston to show that President Bush cares about our issues by supporting the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill.
Before Loida's remarks, however, the audience saw an MTV music video of the "Apl Song" by the pop group Black-Eyed Peas. "APL," the initials of Allan Pineda Lindo, the real name of the group's leader "Will.I.Am," tells the story of a Filipino WW II vet abandoned in a nursing home and forced to watch as other residents laugh and smile with their loving children and grandchildren. Woven through the video is footage of the Black-Eyed Peas performing, with images of Apl as an adult and as a child and footage of Filipino veterans chained to the gates of the White House demanding equity for Filipino veterans. The polished video is the work of Daly City's own filmmaker Patrick Ginelsa.

The September 11 Gala Night, which began with a tribute to the victims of 9/11, was a stellar affair with moving speeches by a host of inspirational speakers led by Major General Antonio Taguba, whose investigation into the American military abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, thrust him into the national spotlight.

Perhaps the least known of the nationally prominent speakers was Tony Meloto, the founder of a project that is weeping the Philippines, the Gawad Kalinga 777 project. Meloto pointed out that the image of Filipino-Americans in the US will be greatly enhanced if the Philippines were to rise from its quagmire of poverty.

The mission of Gawad Kalinga ("to offer care") is to improve the economy of the Philippines by building 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in seven years. These homes are for the marginalized poor who live in slums, which are breeding grounds for crime and abuse.

The GK builds homes in bite-sized communities (50 to 100 families) with an average cost of 1,000 dollars per home built with cement blocks and equipped with electrical wiring and water pipes and painted in bright colors of hope. Neighbors and community partners help build the homes which are complemented with health care, education and livelihood project assistance. In the first two years, 240 communities have been established throughout the Philippines.

NaFFAA chairperson Lewis asked the NaFFAA delegates to pledge money to support the project. As she went through the Grand Ballroom, NaFFAA delegates from throughout the country pledged 320,000 dollars to support the project. That's 320 homes for the Philippine poor that will be built from just one night of pledges.

We are all in the same bus. Even the marginalized poor in the Philippines.

For more information about GK777, log on to www.gawadkalinga.org. For comments, please send to Rodel50@aol.com or mail to 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call +415 334 7800.