Breaking the Curse

“No Filipinos or Dogs Allowed” was a common sign that appeared in motels, boarding houses and night clubs in the 1930s in California. While Filipinos have made progress and are now allowed in places where dogs are still not allowed, the California Legislature is one place where dogs and Filipinos are still foreign creatures.

Unlike more recent Asian immigrant communities (Vietnamese-Americans, Indian-Americans and Korean-Americans), Filipino Americans have never been elected to the California Legislature. But that long curse was about to end on June 3 when West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon was set to win the Democratic nomination in the heavily Democratic 8th Assembly District.

Praised by the state capital’s premier daily, Sacramento Bee , as "one of the most intelligent, talented and hard-working elected officials in the region," Christopher Cabaldon has served an unprecedented six terms as mayor of the city of West Sacramento.and previously served as Vice Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the largest system of higher education in the United States.


Cabaldon enjoyed the endorsement of every Democratic mayor and county supervisor, every state legislator, US Representative and City Council majority in the district which encompasses Yolo and Sonoma counties. He also raised more money than any Filipino American candidate for public office in the US has ever raised - $590,000 – double what his opponent, Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada was able to raise ($290,000).

If Chris Cabaldon couldn’t win, with all his experience and credentials, with all his endorsements and money, then no Filipino American could ever hope to have a shot at breaking the curse.

But alas, in what can only be described as a stunning upset, Yamada edged out Cabaldon, winning “razor thin” margins in both Yolo and Sonoma counties, garnering 18,519 votes to 17,435 for Cabaldon

As Sacramento political analyst Marcos Breton asked: “How did the brightest, most promising young political figure in Sacramento lose an election last week that he seemed certain to win?”

It was the unions, Breton charged, pointing especially to Bill Camp of the Sacramento Central Labor Council who decided that Cabaldon was "anti-union" because business interests were backing him, ignoring the fact that Cabaldon “oozed potential and is a Democrat admired in more than Democratic circles.”

“Union muscle trumped all that with a barrage of negative ads that made some of Cabaldon's molehills seem like mountains,” wrote Breton. “Many of you say you hate negative campaigns. But Cabaldon's loss to Mariko Yamada in the Democratic primary for the 8th Assembly District proves that going negative works.”

There are Fil-Ams in organized labor throughout the state but neither Cabaldon, nor his campaign consultant, Richie Ross, thought of contacting them to ask them to talk to their union leadership to dissuade them from derailing the most serious Fil-Am hope of breaking the curse.

It was also speculated that Yamada won because she is Japanese American and Cabaldon lost because he is Filipino American. While it is doubtful that voters seriously considered the ethnic backgrounds of the candidates, it may have subconsciously entered some voters’ minds that Japanese American officials, like Rep. Bob Matsui and his widow, Rep. Doris Matsui, have successfully represented the district but no Filipino American ever has. And now may likely never be.

Also running in the June 3 California Democratic primaries was Arlie Ricasa, Director of Student Development at Southwestern College in the City of Chula Vista and a Trustee of the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) Board. She ran for the Democratic nomination for the 78th Assembly District in San Diego.

Like Cabaldon, Ricasa was endorsed by numerous elected officials including members of Congress, State Senate, State Assembly, County Board of Supervisors, City Councils and local School Boards. She also earned the endorsements of the California Democratic Party as well as various labor, small business and community leaders.

But like Cabaldon, Ricasa lost placing 4th in a pool of 4, garnering just 4,499 votes (13.6%) to the winner Martin Block who obtained 12,054 votes (36.5%).

According to San Diego Fil-Am community leader Aurora Cudal, “the cause of Ricasa’s failed candidacy may be attributed to lack of financial support and lip service by those who advocate for Filipino American empowerment.”

In a message to her supporters, Ricasa said: “While we weren’t victorious in the election, we were victorious in involving so many people who have been historically underserved, underheard and underrepresented. Soon, our time will come. I have faith and so should you. It could be you or one of our supporters who will soon represent us at the State’s table of decision making.”

Cudal added: “In America, the voters have to support their candidate not only through their votes but through their financial support and physical presence at precinct walks, placing yard signs, knocking on doors, and making telephone calls on behalf of the candidate. These practices are so unlike in the Philippines where the candidates give money and feed the voters in order to win.”

The other major Fil-Am candidate to run for public office on June 3 was three-term Milpitas Mayor Joe Esteves who ran for the Santa Clara County District Three Board of Supervisors against San Jose Vice Mayor Dave Cortese and Sunnyvale City Councilman Otto Lee.

Both Cortese and Lee raised $250,000 each while Esteves was only able to come up with $70,000. Cortese garnered 12,980 votes (42.6%) to Lee's 9,075 votes (29.8%). Esteves trailed Lee by 691 votes, as he received 8,384 votes (27.5%). As no candidate won more than 50% of the vote, Cortese and Lee will face each other in the run-off elections in November.

Esteves said he was disappointed in the outcome, attributing his loss to the low voter turnout in Milpitas, Berryessa and other parts of the district where he expected to draw votes. "Of course it's not the best, but I'm just happy because, with the limited resources that we had, I did a good showing," Esteves said.

Esteves’ predecessor, Henry Manayan, ran in 2004 for the 20th Assembly District after also serving three terms as mayor of Milpitas. He failed to break the curse then as Cabaldon and Ricasa also failed to do now.

Will the curse ever be broken?

Conflicted on the Vets

There is an inherent conflict in writing a weekly opinion column, as I have done for the last 20 years, and in being an elected public official in San Francisco, as I have been for the last 17 years. From time to time, I have had to write about certain issues which have offended certain individuals or groups who are San Francisco voters. That goes with the territory.

Most recently I wrote two columns about the need for the Filipino community to express its unequivocal support for the Filipino veterans equity bill, S.1315, which passed the US Senate 96-1 on April 24, 2008, and which is currently pending in the US House of Representatives.

In my first column, I wrote about the expected House vote on S.1315 that was set for May 21 but which was delayed. I speculated that the delay may have come from the fact that Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not have 290 House votes needed to pass S.1315 with a Suspension of the Rules call as she may not have all 230 House Democrats and at least 60 Republicans willing to vote for it.

But I also reported that Filipino veterans in Washington DC were questioning whether “a letter from San Francisco Veterans Affairs Commissioner Regalado Baldonado to Speaker Nancy Pelosi denouncing S.1315 may have played a role in the vote delay.”

I reported that the "Baldonado" letter to Speaker Pelosi and to Philippine Ambassador Willie Gaa declared S. 1315 to be "woefully insufficient" as it would provide the 12,000 Filipino veterans in the Philippines with $300 a month pension while the 6,000 Filvets in the US would be entitled to $900 a month.

I further reported that the DC veterans personally spoke with Baldonado and that he explained that the letter was prepared for him to sign by members of the Veterans Equity Center (VEC) and the Student Action for Filipino Veterans (SAVE).

In response to my column, Roy Recio, secretary of the VEC and an active member of SAVE, issued a press release this past week entitled “Call for Apology and Retraction After City College Board Trustee Rodel Rodis Attacks Student Coalition”.

The press release stated that my “article included a diatribe of speculations disguised as facts, including a claim that a letter prepared by SAVE caused Speaker Nancy Pelosi to postpone the vote for the proposed Veterans Enhancement Bill, S. 1315. However, the fact remains, Speaker Pelosi and her offices have never confirmed the exact grounds for such postponement.”

Recio did not deny that the “Baldanado” letter was written by SAVE, a fact which he further confirmed in a subsequent paragraph; only that Speaker Pelosi “never confirmed the exact grounds for such postponement." That's what he wants me to apolgize for? Is Recio naive enough to believe that Speaker Pelosi will actually acknowledge the exact grounds for the postponement?

In her article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer published on June 3, 2008 (“No veteran left behind in final battle”), Atty. Tancinco wrote that if S.1315 is passed, it will mean that “those residing in the Philippines will get only about one-third of those benefits instead of the full benefits. This is discriminatory treatment of the veterans based on residence.”

Tancinco believes that S.1315 will not correct the “historical injustice” of the Rescission Act of 1946 and that what is needed is “for the US Congress to pass another bill to revert their status back to US veterans and afford the Filipinos the same treatment as other veterans who fought under the US flag in World War II. The economic part of the bill should be incidental to the principle behind full equity.”

This is the meat of the conflict which has divided the Filipino community on the veterans issue from the outset. Tancinco and the VEC and SAVE believe, as the Baldonado letter unequivocally enunciated, that "We cannot waiver in our position or tolerate any deviation from equal treatment for all of our Filipino WW II veterans.”

SAVE’s website, fullequitynow.org, states its fundamental principle is “Commitment and support to fight for nothing less than FULL EQUITY for Filipino WWII Veterans “

Since S.1315 only provides $300 a month for the 12,000 Filipino veterans in the Philippines, instead of $900 a month, then it is much less than full equity and Atty. Tancinco, Recio and their groups will simply not accept the compromise even if S.1315 is the “last best chance” to get a Filipino veterans equity bill to pass the US Congress.

While I respect that Atty. Tancinco and many others in VEC and SAVE believe this out of genuine principle, I question the motives of Roy Recio and his band of true believers. It is well-known in San Francisco that Recio is an outspoken and active member of Bayan USA (www.bayanusa.org), an organization that supports the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Philippines.

I believe that Recio and his group will be greatly disappointed if S.1315 passes because they will be deprived of an ideological issue with which to organize the masses. The Rescission Act has been a perfect issue for them because it shows the US as betraying its promise and causing the elderly veterans to needlessly suffer. To Recio, the veterans serve a useful political purpose.

But many older activists like Lillian Galedo, national co-chair of the National Network for Veterans Equity (NNVE), with which VEC and SAVE are affiliated, wholeheartedly believe that we must do everything we can to pass S.1315 now. In an email sent out to various egroups on June 6, 2008, Galedo attached my most recent column (“Unequivocal Support for S. 1315 needed”) and wrote:

“For the people organizing on the ground, it is absolutely clear that we have unequivocal support among the long-time advocates and those who have more recently taken up the cause to restore U.S. veterans status to Filipino WWII veterans. Our center of attention should be focused on getting the final 50 or so votes to pass the House version of S. 1315, in the House of Representatives.”

I am running for re-election to the SF Community College Board this November. I fully expect Recio and his group to actively oppose me which is why their press release highlighted the fact that I am a College Board Trustee. I would appreciate any financial contribution to my campaign ($500 max). Please send your check made out to "Reelect Rodis, College Board" to 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127.

Unequivocal Support for S.1315 Needed

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), the national vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s "point man" on the Filipino veterans equity issue, expressed great disappointment at news of the lack of unity in the Filipino community’s support for S. 1315, which he described as the “last best chance” to get a Filipino veterans equity bill to pass the US Congress.

“I can understand the sentiments of those who support full equity,” Rep. Honda told me in a telephone conversation on May 28, “I support full equity myself. But it just won’t happen.” There are major political and fiscal reasons why a bill that would grant approximately $900 a month to 18,000 Filipino WW II veterans will have no chance whatsoever of being passed by the US Congress and signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush.

A “full equity” bill would cost about $194-M a year and almost $2-B over 10 years. Even the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill (HR 760) sponsored by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), stoutly supported by proponents of full equity, only provided $500 a month for Filipino veterans in the Philippines.

S.1315, the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Bill, which passed the US Senate with an overwhelming 96-1 vote on April 24, 2008, provides $250-$300-M over 10 years for the Filipino WW II veterans.

Under the bill, which would take effect on April 1, 2009 if passed, about $50-M would be allocated for Filipino veterans in the first year and would steadily diminish over a 10 year period ($46-M year 2, $42-M year 3, etc).

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which prepared the estimate, took into consideration the fact that many of the Filipino veterans living in California (4,000out of the total of 6,000 vets in the US) may elect to keep the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) that they are currently receiving about $650 a month plus $200 from the state of California rather than the $900 a month they would receive as US VA pension because the veteran and his spouse would receive a higher monthly total SSI benefit of $1,500. They would not be entitled to combine both.

Because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi adopted the “Pay Go” (Pay as you go) rule, no bill appropriating any amount could be passed unless the sponsors of the bill identified the source of the funds. The sponsors of S.1315 identified the source of the funds which has been fodder for Republican opponents of the bill.

According to a memo distributed by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Indiana), the ranking Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, S.1315 “would eliminate special monthly pensions for many severely disabled veterans over 65 who are also receiving pensions for wartime service. It would use $156 million of the funds saved by this unprecedented cut in veterans' benefits eligibility to provide budgetary offsets to fund oversized pensions for non-citizen, non-resident World War II Filipino veterans.”

Riding on the anti-immigrant sentiment among Republicans, Buyer alleged that the benefits that would be cut from “those elderly, poor, disabled U.S. veterans” would be awarded instead to “non-citizen, non-resident World War II Filipino veterans.. (which) will put their average annual income 1400% above of the poverty rate in the Philippines…Sending this over-generous benefit to non-American citizens is not the best use of American taxpayer dollars in this time of economic downturn.”

To get S.1315 to pass the House, Speaker Pelosi will need all 230 House Democrats to support it and at least 60 House Republicans to reach the magic number of 290 (2/3rd of the 435 total number of House members) in order to call for a Suspension of the Rules that would avoid killer amendments that would delay, if not altogether kill the bill.

While the majority of House Republicans will accept Buyer’s recommendation and vote to oppose S.1315, there is hope that Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA) can gather enough Republicans to join the Democrats in reaching the number of 290.

But to get all 230 House Democrats to support S.1315, there must be unprecedented unity in the Filipino community behind the bill. This is the cause of the general consternation about the letter that was sent to Speaker Pelosi by Veterans Equity Center (VEC) board member Regalado Baldonado where he thrashed S.1315 as “woefully insufficient” and asserted that "we cannot waiver in our position or tolerate any deviation from equal treatment for all of our Filipino WW II veterans.”

S.1315 is admittedly a “deviation from equal treatment” (just as the Filner bill was) as it would pay $900 a month to veterans in the US and $300 a month to veterans in the Philippines. “But it’s the best that we can get,” explained Rep. Honda. The realities of US politics require us to “tolerate” a bill that would discriminate on the basis of residence.

But it is not just the realities of US politics, it is also the reality of life and the cost of living. It is simply easier to live in the Philippines with one’s family in one’s home on a monthly pension of $300 a month (12000 pesos) plus 5000 pesos veterans’ monthly pension from the Philippine government than to live in the US on $900 a month.

Rep. Honda told me that supporters of “full equity” like the VEC can focus their attention, after S.1315 is passed and signed into law, into pushing for a subsequent bill that would seek to “compress” the 10 years of the pension allocation for Philippine-based veterans into 5 years. The actuarial reality for most of the veterans who are now 88 years (if they were 21 at the outset of the war in 1941) is that they will likely live for less than 5 years. “Compressing” the bill from 10 to 5 would allow Philippine veterans the opportunity to receive $600 a month over a 5 year period rather than $300 a month over 10 years.

These are incredibly difficult times now for the 12,000 veterans in the Philippines who are all eagerly awaiting passage of S.1315 to help them cope with skyrocketing food and fuel costs. While the young activist members of the VEC and the Student Action for Veterans Equity (SAVE) should be admired for sticking to their principles, the veterans in the Philippines know that they cannot eat their principles or fill their gas tanks with them.

When Major General Antonio Taguba (ret.), one of the highest-ranking Filipinos in the U.S. military and internationally known for his scathing report on Abu Ghraib, met in San Francisco with members of the Filipino community including members of the VEC, he urged them to be united in getting S.1315 passed and not to just dwell on the issue of “full equity”.

“Don’t make it a bumper sticker. Why do we have an East Coast set of circumstances and a West Coast set of circumstances?” asked Gen. Taguba. “It makes us look like we’re divided on the issue. What is our position today? To get this legislation passed through, that’s our only position.”

Members of the Filipino community are urged to email Speaker Nancy Pelosi and their representatives in Congress to express support for S.1315 by logging on to the website: www.house.gov.

FilVets Equity Bill Vote Delayed

It was an emotional roller coaster ride for the Filipino WW II veterans this past week as they rode high hopes that the House version of S.1315 - which incorporates the Filipino veterans' equity bill approved by the US Senate - would come for a floor vote in the House on May 21. The timing would have been perfect coming the week just before Memorial Day when Americans traditionally remember and honor veterans.

The Speaker's plan, as they were told, was to present the House version of S.1315 for a floor vote under a Suspension of the Rules call which requires 290 House votes (2/3rds of 435 total members) to get the bill considered without killer amendments that would only delay if not defeat the bill. This would also ensure that the bill would be veto-proof.

As the veterans huddled in the halls of the Capitol anxiously waiting for the vote, they heard the news from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office that there would no vote on the veterans' bill on that day. The disappointed veterans wondered what could have caused the vote to be postponed.

Was Speaker Pelosi worried that there were not enough Republicans willing to support the bill? Rep. Darrell Issa ( R-Vista CA ) and Ben Gilman, the former Republican chair of the House International Relations Committee and currently a Philippine government lobbyist for the Filvets bill, had assured Pelosi that there were 74 House Republicans who would vote for the bill. The American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV) confirmed earlier the solid commitment of 27 Republicans.

Was Speaker Pelosi worried that she and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) did not have all 230 House Democrats in lock step behind the bill especially among the 51 members of the conservative Blue Dog Caucus some of whom have echoed Republican concerns about "giving money to foreigners"?

Just the day before on May 20, Speaker Pelosi had addressed Democratic House members to firm up support for the bill telling them "I'm very committed to it because it is the right thing to do and we do not want any more time to pass by."

But was there another reason for the delay perhaps? Could a letter from San Francisco Veterans Affairs Commissioner Regalado Baldonado to Speaker Pelosi denouncing S.1315 have played a role in the vote delay?

The Baldonado letter declared S. 1315 to be "woefully insufficient" as it would provide the 14,000 Filvets in the Philippines with $300 a month pension while the 6,000 Filvets in the US would be entitled to $900 a month. It urged Speaker Pelosi to support a House companion bill that would provide "full recognition and benefits to Filipino WW II veterans residing in and outside the United States ."

"We cannot waiver in our position or tolerate any deviation from equal treatment for all of our Filipino WW II veterans," the Baldonado letter asserted.

Speculation about the role of the Baldonado letter in postponing the vote caused a number of veterans in Washington DC to call Baldonado in San Francisco and to ask him about his letter. The DC veterans pointed out to Baldonado that the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP), which represents the 14,000 Filvets in the Philippines, fully backs S.1315 which would provide $375 a month pension to Philippine based veterans who have dependents, $300 a month to those without dependents and $200 a month to their widows.

Baldonado explained to his comrades that he did not write the letter, that it was prepared for him to sign by leaders of the Filipino Veterans Equity Center in San Francisco and by an activist group called Students Action for Veterans Equity (SAVE). He said he did not know that Rep. Filner had abandoned his HR 760 in favor of S.1315.

Delfin Lorenzana, head of the Veterans Affairs Office of the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC , was among those who spoke with Baldonado. "The danger here is that if his letter has been widely circulated," he told the other veterans, "it may have influenced the decision of Pelosi to postpone the vote on S.1315 yesterday, despite the fact that there are more than enough Republican support, because of the conflicting signals she is getting from the Fil-Am community especially in her home district."

On the same day that the veterans in Washington DC were dismayed by news of the postponement, over 100 community leaders in San Francisco gathered at the Philippine Consulate to hear former President Fidel V. Ramos urge the community to support S.1315 as the best chance to get the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill to pass the US Congress.

(Pres. and Mrs. Fidel V. Ramos with SF Consul-General and Mrs. Marciano Paynor, Jr. and WWII Veterans at the SF Philippine Consulate. Photo by George Gange).

In the Open Forum that followed his speech that was moderated by Ben Menor, Atty. Lourdes Tancinco, chair of the Veterans Equity Center (VEC), informed Pres. Ramos that her group did not support S.1315 because, she said, it did not cover all the veterans and at the level they should be entitled to.

Pres. Ramos replied that we cannot get everything we want from the US Congress, not even Pres. George W. Bush can do that, and that we have to be realistic about what is possible and take what we can get. He said we should build on the momentum of 96-1 vote in the US Senate for S.1315 to get a House version passed.

But Jaymee Sagisi of the Students Action for Veterans Equity (SAVE) voiced her disagreement with the position of Pres. Ramos asking him "How can you advocate that Filipino veterans in the Philippines should receive only one third of what US veterans get?" Ramos reiterated his position that we have to be realistic about what can be expected from the US Congress.

"Filipino veterans in the Philippines getting $300 a month, and another $200 a month in widows' benefits, that realistically will happen under S. 1315 is better than a $900 a month dream that will never come," commented veteran Lucio Dimaano.

In the discussions that occurred among members of the audience, it was explained that Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the principal sponsor of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill in the Senate, recognized that the Filvets bill could not pass if it went out on its own, as the anti-immigrant sentiment in the Republican Party was too strong. The only chance of passage was to fold it into an omnibus Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Bill which would affect several veterans programs, including disability compensation, housing, pension, burial, life insurance, and readjustment benefits.

Akaka's advocacy for the Filvets stand alone bill was met with vociferous opposition from Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) and Sen. David Vitter (R-Alabama). They opposed offering benefits to non-US citizen veterans who, Craig said, "are taking money away from our veterans. That is the 'Robin Hood in reverse' effect. At least Robin Hood, when he took money, left it in Nottingham . He spread it out amongst his own. Here we are taking money from our own and sending it all the way to the Philippines ."

Filipino veterans expressed concern that if Baldonado and his group succeed in stalling passage of the veterans' benefits enhancement bill, the other non-Filipino veterans groups may likely junk the Filipino veterans equity provision in the bill and move on with their omnibus bill.

Filipino veterans groups are hoping that the Filipino community, including Commissioner Baldonado, will unite to support passage of the House version of S.1315 if and when it comes for a vote on June 3.

Members of the Filipino community are urged to email Speaker Nancy Pelosi and their representatives in Congress to express support for S.1315 by logging on to the website: www.house.gov.

Birth Control

How will the Philippines survive soaring food prices? Through “birth control at home and friendly ties with the world’s top rice exporters”, according to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a press statement issued on May 10, 2008.

Birth control at home? Wow. This was a surprising admission from a president who has consistently rejected 840 million pesos in annual donations of contraceptives and other birth control devices from the US and other donor countries and who has yet to spend a centavo of the 180 million pesos allocated in the current budget for birth control.

But with the Philippine population increasing by two million mouths a year and with the price of rice and other food commodities skyrocketing, President Arroyo recognizes the general consensus in the Philippines that some form of population control or management (what she has called "birth spacing") has to be found for the country to survive this food crisis.

Unfortunately, population control programs in the Philippines have never taken off because of the fierce opposition of the Roman Catholic Church which believes that artificial contraceptives only serve to promote sexual promiscuity and immorality. Church leaders vehemently deny that overpopulation is the cause of poverty and underdevelopment.

Philippine Commentary blogger Dean Bocobo contends that while birth control policies are not “per se the cause of hunger, poverty and economic underdevelopment, their undeniable consequence in the form of overpopulation strictly limits the efficacy of any solutions to the problems that face Philippine society and vastly diminishes any gains that are achieved. Overpopulation has a structural, multiplier effect that exacerbates those problems, places pressure on natural resources such as water, land and the ability of society to feed, clothe, shelter and educate the people.”

Although the Catholic Church believes that sexual intercourse should only be engaged in by heterosexual married couples for the purpose of procreation and never for recreation, the Church does not oppose birth control. But the Church will only support the natural family planning (NFP) method of birth control.

NFP requires a woman to know when she is fertile and to refrain from sex during that period. A woman has to record her body temperature when she wakes up, measure the length of her menstrual cycle and her cervical secretions. For this Church-endorsed birth control method to work, both partners must religiously follow the recording process and avoid intercourse during the woman’s fertile period.

Do Catholic priests and nuns hand out thermometers, notebooks and pens to their poor parishioners to explain how the NFP method works and what faithful Catholic couples should do to prevent pregnancies?

NFP “is not an easy method to teach”, according to Jed Meline, deputy chief of the USAID’s Office of Population, Health and Nutrition, who points out that it takes incredible discipline for couples to control their sexual urges for as long as 11 straight days in a 23-day cycle. The keeping of daily records and the length of time to learn it effectively (three to six cycles) are not the only drawbacks. There is also the inability of NFP to protect partners against sexually transmitted diseases.

President Arroyo supports the NFP method for others but not for herself. In a luncheon held on February 28, 2003 with pro-family planning legislators to discuss their reproductive health bill, she disclosed that she herself had used contraceptives as a young mother. She said that when she went to confession after taking birth control pills, the father confessor told her “It’s okay”.

Her point, she explained, was that there are members of the clergy who see nothing wrong with using birth control pills or condoms. But, she told them, she could not support their bill as she was committed to advocate only for NFP. Why, the legislators wanted to ask, would you deprive women from having the same choices you had.

As one luncheon observer noted, Arroyo is hopelessly conflicted: “As an economist she knows that an exploding population puts undue stress on a weak economy, but as a Catholic whose rise to power was due in part to Church support, she is torn."

The result is that, unlike other Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines has no coordinated government family planning program and no public funds for artificial birth control. Many economists believe that this uncontrolled population growth has created a country with a big and permanent underclass, with 40 percent of the population subsisting on less than $1 a day. As the Philippine government’s own Population Commission (Popcom) warned, “Larger families among the poor make it more difficult for them to break out of poverty.”

Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources Lito Atienza, a devout Roman Catholic and head of Pro-Life Philippines, believes that a population boom will pave the way for prosperity, and birth rates will drop as a by-product of wealth. The last point is undoubtedly true as the poorest 20% of women have an average of 6-7 children while the top 20% average only 2 kids. But how overpopulation will lead to prosperity is highly questionable.

When he was mayor of Manila from 2000 to 2006, Atienza vigorously opposed any form of health campaign that promoted contraception (condoms, birth control pills), abortion, or sex education programs. Atienza does not believe in interfering with population growth, explaining that he has “not read a religious teaching that said man should meddle with the plan of the Divine Master.” But is it the Divine Master's plan for the poor to suffer?

It would perplex Atienza to learn that the Roman Catholic Church was very close to changing its moral position on sex and birth control when the Second Vatican Council was convened in the early 1960s to reexamine church teaching on this issue. Began by Pope John XXIII, and continued by his successor, Pope Paul VI, the Vatican created a Papal Commission on Population and Birth Control, composed of 15 cardinals and bishops and 64 lay experts representing a variety of disciplines.

After a two year exhaustive study, the Papal Commission voted decisively, 69 to 10, to change the Church’s anachronistic position on birth control. Unfortunately, the minority report was written by the Polish archbishop, Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II. When he became Pope, he adopted his own report and rejected any change in the Church’s position.

In his minority report, Archbishop Wojtyla warned that “if it should be declared that contraception is not evil in itself, then we should have to concede frankly that the Holy Spirit had been on the side of the Protestant churches in 1930… It should likewise have to be admitted that for half a century the Spirit failed to protect the Catholic hierarchy from a very serious error. This would mean that the leaders of the Church, acting with extreme imprudence, had condemned thousands of innocent human acts, forbidding, under pain of eternal damnation, a practice which would now be sanctioned.”

Face and Papal infallibility trumped all other considerations.

Cuts Endanger Public Education

There are close to 4,000 Filipino students enrolled at City College of San Francisco, by far the largest Filipino student body outside the Philippines . Their large presence accounts for why four of the last eight student body presidents at the main Ocean campus have been Filipinos. They are beneficiaries of California 's landmark 1960 Master Plan for Education which transformed educational opportunity in California for several generations and became the national model for public higher education.

The Plan defined specific roles for the University of California (UC), the California State University (CSU), and the California Community Colleges system (CCC). Its underlying principle was that some form of higher education should be available to everyone based not on their economic means but on their academic persistence and proficiency.

But now that principle is in jeopardy after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the projected budget deficit for this year is close to $20 billion dollars, which will mean deep cuts in education. Although the state has weathered budget crises in the past, this time may turn out to be the worst for California public education and particularly for its community colleges.

Because property tax revenues are coming in far lower than predicted when the budget was signed last summer, the Governor’s budget proposes to cut community colleges by nearly half a billion dollars to cover the shortfall, including about $92 million that will immediately be trimmed out of their budgets by July 1, 2008.

For City College of San Francisco, this shortfall translates to nearly a $3 million loss, enough to defund about 460 course sections. Although operating costs continue to increase by nearly 5% —with health care costs increasing into the double digits—the state is not providing any money to cover the inflationary costs, creating an $8 million hole in the projected $195-M annual budget of City College .

How will City College deal with this budget crisis so that it can continue to educate its 110,000 students in 10 campuses throughout San Francisco ?

Eighty-five percent of the students who attend City College work, so they need to get through college as fast as possible. Others need to make up or fill-in so that they can complete their studies or transfer to a 4-year college or university. Many want to accelerate their course work in order to enter the job market as soon as possible. For them, summer school classes are not a luxury, they are a necessity.

To deal with the crisis, City College will not replace administrative, faculty, or staff retirements. If the Governor’s proposed budget becomes a reality, City College will have no choice but to eliminate 500 classes, 50 of which are English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. This will result in larger class sizes, longer lines, fewer offerings, and less student services—all of which translate to a longer time before the students achieve their educational goals.

City College will also have to dip into its reserves to help balance its budget for this fiscal year. But, unfortunately, this is not a one-year budget problem. Next year—2008-2009—is expected to be devastating.

To deal with the problem, tthe state’s Legislative Analyst is proposing a hike in student fees from $20 to $26 per unit, a 30% increase in one year. The last time tuition fees were increased, 300,000 students statewide dropped out, many postponing their college education for at least a year.

The impact of the proposed tuition fee increase will not be shared equally as it will fall hardest on the most vulnerable students, students who have just lost their jobs and can not afford to pay the increased fees. Students who have budgeted $6 per day for food would have to go 2 weeks with no food to pay for the fee increases.

Furthermore, since the proposed tuition fee increases will be for all of public higher education in California , fewer students will be able to afford a CSU or UC education, and more of them will have to rely on the California community colleges for their education. Their entry will edge out the traditional community college student, with the least educated and those with the lowest income pushed out and denied their opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

The present fiscal crisis can be traced back to the November 17, 2003 Executive Order of Gov. Schwarzenegger eliminating the $200 Vehicle License Fee (VLF), an election vow he fulfilled but an action which has meant an aggregate loss of $9-B in general revenues much of which would have gone to education.

To avert the crisis, new revenue enhancements need to be part of the budget solution, not just cuts. There should be no fee increases for the students as the budget should not be balanced on their backs.

The Filipino community should demand that public higher education must be enhanced, not reduced, now more than ever.

Rodel Rodis is a Trustee of the San Francisco Community College Board who has served three terms as Board President and as chair of the Board’s Finance Committee.

Save Our Pastor

When Pope Benedict XVI delivered a homily at the Nationals Stadium in Washington DC on April 17, 2008, he asked the Catholic faithful to “love your priests, and to affirm them in the excellent work that they do.” A few hundred miles north of that stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, the parishioners of the St. Frances Cabrini Church, led by Frank Cicerale and Anne Carey, are doing exactly what the Pope asks them to do. They love and affirm the excellent work of their parish priest, Fr. Edgardo Abano, and they are determined to get the local Bishop to reinstate him.

Last year, Bishop Paul Gregory Bootkoski of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen, N.J. informed Fr. Abano that the Diocese would be closing down St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School because enrollment was down, the school was underused, and St. Frances Cabrini Church was subsidizing the school. Despite the subsidy, however, Fr. Abano’s church was still able to pay the yearly assessments to the Diocese although not enough to pay off the Diocesan debts.

Bishop Bootkoski believed that if the Cabrini school closed down, the parish would be able to pay off its Diocesan debts. But Fr. Abano disagreed with his bishop and led his parishioners in protesting the planned closure of the parish school.

In the middle of this dispute in September of 2007, the Diocese contacted the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey to report that Glenn Obrero, a Filipino diocesan employee and a seminarian at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, had informed the Diocese way back in 2005 that Fr. Abano had inappropriately touched him in the chest and buttocks.

Was it a coincidence that Bishop Bootkoski saw no merit in Obrero’s claim for more than two years until he was locked in a dispute with Fr. Abano over the fate of the Cabrini school?

After the bishop lodged the complaint with the local prosecutor, the police on October 19, 2007 invited Obrero to the police station and instructed him to call Fr. Abano and to wish him a happy birthday while they taped the conversation. As planned, Obrero brought up the “touching” incident which occurred in 2005. After the phone call, a court interpreter, Bong Nepomuceno, provided the English translation of the taped conversation in Tagalog.

After reviewing the transcripts, on October 23, 2007, the police arrested Fr. Abano at the Cabrini parish rectory. The police denied Fr. Abano’s request to be allowed to put on his clothes and brought him to the police station in his undershirt, shorts and slippers. After he was booked, Fr. Abano was released on $1,500 bail.

The next day, at the direction of Bishop Bootkoski, Fr. Abano resigned as Pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish, a post he had held since 1992. He also tendered his resignation as Director of the Office of Multicultural Ministries of the Metuchen Diocese which oversees nine ethnic ministries; as Chairman of the Commission for the Filipino Apostolate of the Diocese of Metuchen; and as Head Shepherd of the Association of Filipino Catholic Charismatic Prayer Communities of the U.S.A. and Canada, an association with around 40,000 members.

Fr. Abano was ordained as a priest in the United States on May 18, 1985 and had served many parishes in New Jersey prior to St. Frances Cabrini Church including: Our Lady of Lourdes in Whitehouse Station; Immaculate Conception Church in Somerville, Saints Philip and James Church in Phillipsburg; and Our Lady of Fatima in Piscataway.

His arrest on October 23, 2007 was carried by local and international news and media services including The Filipino Channel, ABS-CBN, which reported the incident to its international audience.

After his arrest, parish supporters of Fr. Abano set up a legal defense fund and hired Joseph Benedict, a highly-regarded criminal defense lawyer, to represent Fr. Abano. The parishioners drew up a petition signed by more than 900 of them and created a website, www.SaveOurPastor.org, to express their full support for Fr. Abano.

Benedict hired a Tagalog interpreter to listen to the taped conversation and to translate it. The new translation showed that Fr. Abano denied ever touching Obrero while the first translation showed no such denial, which the police had misconstrued as affirming the misconduct.

“The denials were there (in the new transcript),” Benedict said, “I’m not sure that Fr. Abano would have been charged in the first place if they had an accurate transcript.” He then filed for trial by grand jury based on the new translation which contradicted the key piece of evidence the prosecutor’s office had on the alleged crime.

On February 22, 2008, Fr. Abano and Obrero both testified separately before a grand jury in New Brunswick, NewJersey. After only 45 minutes of grand jury deliberation, Middlesex Assistant Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua announced that the jury issued a “no bill” finding which meant that the prosecution had no case.

After the charges against Fr. Abano were dropped, Bishop Bootkoski announced that he would “review the grand jury’s findings and meet with Fr. Abano before making a decision about his future.”

According to his sister, Fr. Abano’s primary focus right now is to “clear his good name and the good name of his family. He wants to get back his faculties to practice his priestly ministry. This test of faith has only strengthened his resolve and conviction that he will continue his vocation as a priest to serve God and His people.”

More than 70 days have passed since the grand jury’s “no bill” finding and Bishop Bootkoski still has not made a decision about Fr. Abano’s fate. Why?

Please contact Bishop Bootkoski (bishop@diometuchen.org) and urge him to reinstate Fr. Abano back to his parish and to the national posts that he was compelled to resign from. Tell him to heed the Pope's words.