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Filipinos have generally accepted the Sandiganbayan’s conviction of ousted President Joseph “Erap” Estrada for plunder.

Now, the question people are asking is, after Erap, who? They want to know if it is possible for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to pursue cases against her own top officials who have been linked to graft and corruption and other serious graft charges in Senate investigations? It will be recalled that Estrada was formally charged after he was deposed by the second People Power revolution that grew out of a Senate investigation into his involvement in several anomalous transactions.

It has been six years since the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. Some 3,000 innocent people had perished in that act of terror by the Al Qaeda-led Islamic fanatics, more than the number of Americans killed in the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.

It was a historic moment for the Filipino veterans of World War II.
After waiting for more than five decades for the benefits that were promised them by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1942, the Filipino veterans who fought side-by-side with American forces against the Japanese invaders in the Philippines may finally be able to obtain what is due them.

On June 27, 2007 the US Senate veterans committee chaired by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) approved along party lines the Filipino Veterans Equity bill which, among other things, will provide a special set of benefits for the men and women who fought with pride and honor under the US flag. It will also, in effect repeal the Rescission Act of 1946 which deprived the veterans of benefits.

Several years ago, Filipino American groups in the United States, including Washington D.C., launched a campaign to empower overseas Filipinos. They even dispatched “lobbyists” to contact members of Congress and urge them to implement a provision in the 1987 Constitution giving overseas Filipinos the right to vote in Philippine elections.

The historic “Asian Pacific American mobilization for a just and humane immigration reform” on May 1 did not generate a huge turnout. Perhaps this was because of the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech..

****** But the fact that this was the first time that leaders of Asian American groups had come together to promote an issue that is close to their hearts is an accomplishment by itself. It augurs well for the future. It gives hope that Asian Americans would one day be able to wield enough voting power to make official Washington sit up and take notice. And if they can join with other minority groups to promote more equality in the political, social or economic spheres, they could become a very formidable force indeed.

*** President Bush has once again issued a proclamation declaring May as the Asian Pacific American Heritage month and calling on all Americans “to honor the achievements and contributions of Asian Pacific Americans” to America He said that not only have Asian American helped strengthen the US economy, they have also “enrich(ed) our nation with their strong values of love, of family and of community.”

This question is being asked lately by some analysts and pundits both in the US and in Manila in the wake of many recent developments that seemed to indicate that the military and police are now calling the shots in the Philippines.

Now that the House committee on veterans affairs chaired by Rep. Bob Filner (D-Ca) held its hearings on the Filipino veterans' equity bill, the community should intensify its lobbying activities to ensure its passage once it reaches the full House and the Senate.

Section 4 of the bill of rights in the Philippine Constitution says “no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.” The Philippines is also a signatory to the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

• But the manner in which the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is implementing this particular provision of the Constitution and the UN declaration is condemnable, to say the least. Not only does it virtually condone the killing of journalists most of whom expose the graft and corruption in the government; it also tries to intimidate those who are critical of her person, her administration and her relatives. It has also gone on a killing spree of activists who are opposed to her policies. Using the power of government, the President and her minions are using all the laws available to coerce, intimate and suppress the people’s freedom to express their grievances.

He’s our only child. I am afraid for my son. I don’t want to lose him, but I can’t do anything with his decision,

*** This was the fear expressed by a Filipino American mother whose 23-year-old son has been deployed in Iraq for sometime now. Annie Lantin Stuart bared her fears that something might befall her only son, Benson, in a recent chat with Manila Mail columnist Jon Melegrito. (See Melegrito’s column “our Town,” Jan. 15 issue of the Manila Mail.)

In the last November elections, we celebrated the victory of Kris Valderrama who won a seat as delegate to the Maryland Assembly. Just like her father, David Valderrama who also served as delegate in the same assembly for twelve years, Kris had the support of Filipino-Americans from both sides of the political spectrum.

In their mad rush to keep themselves in power, the Philippine House of Representatives most of whose members are prevented by the 1986 Constitution from seeking a fourth three-year term are pushing to amend the charter. Supporting them is no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whose term also expires four years from now, and without the possibility of reelection.

One of the first major initiative of Ambassador Willy C. Gaa, the new Philippine ambassador to the United States, is to try to jump-start the campaign to obtain benefits for Filipino veterans of World War II. He, together with the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), sponsored a major conference December 6-7 in Washington D.C. "to move the Filipino WWII veterans’ agenda in the U.S. Congress."

Surveys have shown that more Filipino Americans voted for candidates of the Democratic Party than for the Republicans during the recent US mid-term election. And recent reports from Manila said most Filipinos also favored the Democrats taking over control of Congress because they think they are more sympathetic to the needs of the Philippines.

The Manila Mail is sweet sixteen, and already much-read!

******When the Manila Mail, the only fortnightly Filipino American newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area, first hit the streets on Nov. 15, 1991, none of the founders were very optimistic about its future in an area that is strewn with the relics of defunct newspapers.