Today is Easter Sunday, a beautiful spring day in Southern California. I love the spring simply because the trees and plants, including those in my farmyard which lost their leaves in fall, are now starting to show off their green, luscious leaves again. Flowers are blooming and attracting birds, butterflies and living creatures that contribute to the cycle of earthly life. All these wonders of nature unfold their magnificence as if responding to the magic wand of an invisible director, continuing the healthy balance of life around us. God’s work is a miracle every day, which is unfortunately taken for granted by people, especially those in many metropolitan areas.
I did not realize until about two decades ago that I would enjoy nature this much, considering that I hated the physical and demanding farm work that I saw people doing during my growing-up years in a farming village in Pangasinan. Now, farm work or gardening has become a hobby, an effective but inexpensive therapy for a businessman’s stressful life in the city. Today is another awesome weekend that helps me enjoy life despite the depressing news in many parts of the world, including the political circus in the Philippines.
Last week we celebrated Palm Sunday, a great holiday of our church and the beginning of the Passion of Jesus Christ. To all Christians, Lent gives us timely reason to pause and reflect and to retreat from the chaos of the world.
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, which opened on the first day of Lent on Ash Wednesday in the United States, has not only fueled heated controversy but also prompted many people to examine what is truly important in their lives. Christians who have seen it are reminded that the world has been an imperfect place since the beginning of time as we ardently hope that there is another peaceful world in the afterlife. To us believers and followers of Christ, the promise of our redemption, which Christ paid for with his suffering and death on the cross, is the ultimate reward that all Christians hope for.
Despite all the gloom fueled by political campaigns, let me share some good news and developments from America:
• As the US economy continues to contract and some jobs are lost due to globalization (outsourced to foreign countries such as India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines), American families are adjusting by living together to share expenses. The median price of a house in Orange County today is almost half a million dollars. A rent for a one-bedroom apartment is already over $1,l00. The upside of this dramatic increase in housing costs is that families are again beginning to live closer to each other.
• More children of Filipino-American families, compared to a generation ago, are now much more interested to learn about their Filipino culture and some of them enroll in schools to learn how to speak Filipino. There is an increased demand for Philippine studies and culture. I read that even the University of Hawaii has some very unique subjects such as Ilocano dialect, culture and values!
• Another phenomenon is the continued growth and vibrancy of our Catholic Covenant Community City on the Hill (COH), an affiliate of Ligaya ng Panginoon and Couples for Christ in the Philippines. This is attributed to the Singles Group of Young Adults whose music ministry has added much needed energy to the entire COH community. Christian songs in Tagalog are often sung now. Furthermore, the popular singing group from the Philippines, Bukas Palad, is arriving to perform in a concert here in Southern California on May 1.
• In the media, especially in broadcast journalism, the beauty and talent of Filipino women are also being noticed. For instance, in the Los Angeles area, two beautiful ladies appear almost daily on prime time TV. They are Denise Dador of ABC Channel 7, whose parents are from Cebu, and Maria Quiban, born in Hawaii of Ilocano parents, who is a regular on Fox Channel 11. The Asian American Journalists Association (www.aaja.org) also had a Filipino national president several years ago, Ms. Camia, and the LA local chapter has two Pinoy members on the board: Richard Fruto and my own daughter, Donna Karen Delfin. The national executive director, Rene Astudillo, is also a Filipino.
• In the health care field, the presence and importance of Filipino doctors and nurses are very obvious. It is said that no hospital in the US, especially in California, will survive without their Filipino doctors and especially nurses! Thousands are also working as private caretakers of elderly or disabled Americans, including Christopher Reeves who reportedly has some Filipino nurses in his employ.
• In US politics, although Filipinos are still way behind other Asian groups like the Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese, we are slowly adding some names to the roster of elected officials. In Carson, California, after the shameful exit of Mayor Pete Fajardo and a couple of members of the city council due to corruption, another Filipino, Elito Santarina, a teacher who hails from Nueva Ecija, won a council seat last year. He tried to run for mayor this year but he did not make it in his first try, but I predict that as his name becomes more recognized, he will be the next Filipino American mayor. In Walnut City, the mayor is also a Filipino by the name of Mr. Cartagena. In Milpitas, it’s a certain Mr. Esteves (originally from Pangasinan) who succeeded Henry Manayan. In Daly City, it’s Mr. Guingona. A lawyer-friend, David Valderrama, a fluent orator in both English and Tagalog from Laguna, is the first and only Filipino-American elected delegate to the Maryland Assembly. And in the Cerritos ABC Unified School District, three of the seven members of the Board of Education are Filipinos: Cecy Groom, Mark Pulido and Armin Reyes. The city finance manager is a CPA-friend of mine and a fellow Rotarian, Becky Lingad. With an estimated 3,000,000 Filipinos in America, of course, there should be more in politics and government.
• In Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, among the Asians or foreign-born entertainers, the Filipinos are some of the most popular group. Martin Nievera had a long-standing show at the New Orleans Hotel & Casino and just recently Regine Velasquez also had a successful show. The Society of Seven has also appeared there many times in the past and the popular American Idol has two Filipina contestants in the finals.
• The brotherhood of men is also evident in our Rotary Clubs worldwide. Through our Rotary Avenue of International Service, our Rotary Club of Cerritos and our sister club in Gifu, Japan are donating a couple thousand dollars to the Loyola Heights Rotary Club, Quezon City to help them in their Loving Village affordable housing project for the poor in a joint project with Couples for Christ. During this forthcoming 2004-2005 Rotary Centennial Year, we have also committed to help our sister club of Makati Bel Air Rotary Club in their Gawad Kalinga Poverty alleviation program project.
• It is also very heartwarming to learn that many overseas Filipinos also are getting more involved in lending a hand to in the Philippines even in a small but positive way. For almost a year now, dozens of overseas Filipinos, especially from the United States, have formed ProgressiveTimes Action Group (visit www.ptag.org website) and without much fanfare or publicity are now involved in sending Sagip Bata scholars in different schools coordinated by our Filipino PTAG volunteers.
We have also sent some needed books to places like the Tahanang Walang Hagdanan in Cainta, Rizal; in San Pablo City, Pangasinan and Bacolod. Dozens are also volunteering to assist with the Namfrel volunteers in monitoring a clean and honest election.
As the founder of PTAG, I am very pleased of the response of many volunteers and the growing benefactors of PTAG. Those interested to help may e-mail me or join us at ProgressiveTimesAction-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.