APO Centennial Video

Karaoke Bar Murders

An article appeared in the New York Times about killings in Philippine karaoke bars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/world/asia/07karaoke.html?em

An excerpt:

"The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

"The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song?"

Read the whole article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/world/asia/07karaoke.html?em

Pinoy perspective

(Article appeared in the December 2009 issue of the Filpino-American Bulletin in Seattle)
by JP Paredes

It’s December and the season engulfs me in its atmosphere – of the birth of Christ, of thanksgiving for friends and family and of fond longing for loved ones in the Philippines.

Christmas is an important Christian holy day as it marks the birth of Christ. We should not forget, however, that before Christ became the symbol for Christianity, he was first of all a Jew. It is for this reason that we consider Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, as having Judeo traditions.

This brings me to my next point about Jews. Jews everywhere in the world, born in Israel or elsewhere, consider Israel as their “homeland.” It may be because of religious traditions that trace back to old Palestine or what they consider the Promised Land, or some other reason. The fact remains that they consider Israel as their home, even for those who have never seen it or been born there.

This brings me, in turn, to my next point about Filipinos. I find it puzzling how some US-born Filipinos don’t consider themselves Filipinos but Americans, yet they continue to refer to themselves as Filipino-Americans. True, they could not deny the blood line or their appearance or their cultural roots. Yet it seems that in their view the only Filipinos worth mentioning should be Fil-Ams.

In my opinion, this presents a tricky dilemma for Fil-Ams. While they feel that being American-born they have tenuous connections to the Philippines, they nevertheless argue that they should be called “Filipino” Americans without wondering how they could both shun and embrace the Philippines at the same time. There certainly would be no point to calling them Fil-Ams when they seem to deny the “Fil” part.

My point is that I am sometimes criticized for writing Philippine-centric articles while Filipinos and Fil-Ams here in the United States are faced with more immediate problems. I agree for the most part but they lose sight of the fact that no problem of Filipinos in this land could compare to the problems faced by our native Philippines. Perhaps I am biased because I was born there, and the bias of Fil-Ams is a function of their birth here. This illustrates my point about the Jews who consider Israel their home irrespective of their country of birth.

Despite the unique situation of Filipinos in the USA, Fil-Ams cannot have it both ways. They cannot claim to be Americans yet insist on appending the “Fil” to their American-ness while denying the importance of the Philippines to their lives.

I agree that we should highlight issues faced by Filipinos in the US, as indeed we have from time to time. Some of these are surprisingly mainstream, that is, not unique to us as Filipinos - education, gangs, racism, drugs, equality, justice and all that good stuff. This is not to diminish the challenges Fil-Ams face. If anything, Filipino immigrants face greater challenges than US-born Filipinos because of language and accent.

First generation Filipinos are seen as different because they do not speak the mainstream “language.” By language, I mean not only fluency but also the distinctive accent colored somewhat differently by the Philippine region of origin. I don’t know if it’s a positive factor for immigrants to speak the “language” of the mainstream especially when I hear young people frequently punctuating their sentences with “like.” But I digress.

As to my writing about Philippine affairs, little do some Fil-Ams realize that, like it or not, events in the Philippines will color the way the mainstream perceives and treats Filipinos without distinguishing their origins. There are examples aplenty – human rights, corruption, murder of journalists, environmental issues, global strategic issues vis-à-vis war on terror, political (im)maturity, education, social issues created by the expatriate worker phenomenon and a host of other matters. It is therefore logical or at least justifiable for me to air Philippine problems in the hope that Fil-Ams would take the cudgels with the hope that solving them will, in some way, help resolve the issues that they themselves face. Was it not Jose Rizal who championed, together with other expatriates, Filipino issues in a foreign land?

Lest I be misunderstood, this is not to criticize American-born Filipinos but simply to provide a perspective, akin to the perspective of world Jewry, that the Philippines serves as a beacon for cultural and national memory that provides a guide for Filipinos everywhere, hyphenated or not. This beacon is our understanding of the Philippine situation or the lack of it. The quality and the strength of this beacon provide the inspiration that will determine whether Filipinos in the world can find their way or crash on the shoals of assimilation in their adopted countries.

As we celebrate Christmas, it might do Filipinos some good to meditate on who we really are as a people.

Donate Money to Haiti

After the floods in the Philipines come the earthquake in Haiti...

Send funds via hopeforhaitinow.org

Letter to a Software Giant

Letter from Mr.X to Mr. Bill Gates

Subject: Problems with my new computer

Dear Mr. Bill Gates,

We have bought a computer for our home and we have found some problems, which I want to bring to your notice:

1. There is a button 'start' but there is no 'stop' button. We request you to check this.

2. One doubt is whether any “re-scooter” is available in system? I find only “re-cycle”, but I own a scooter at my home.

3. There is 'Find' button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the door key and we tried a lot trace the key with this 'find' button, but was unable to trace. Please rectify this problem.

4. My child learn t 'Microsoft word' now he wants to learn 'Microsoft sentence', so when you will provide that?

5. I bought computer, CPU, mouse and keyboard, but there is only one icon which shows 'My Computer': when you will provide the remaining items?

6. It is surprising that windows says 'MY Pictures' but there is not even a single photo of mine. So when will you keep my photo in that.

7. There is 'MICROSOFT OFFICE' what about 'MICROSOFT HOME' since I use the PC at home only.

8. You provided 'My Recent Documents'. When you will provide 'My Past Documents'?

9. You provide 'My Network Places'. For God sake please do not provide 'My Secret Places'. I do not want to let my wife know where I go after my office hours.

Regards,
Mr.X

Last one to Mr. Bill Gates:

Sir, how is it that your name is Gates but you are selling WINDOWS?

One-third of gov’t employees have mental problems

There is a news article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that says 1/3 of government employees have mental health problems.....

In US, similar concerns are present
(http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml)

By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:33:00 01/12/2010

MANILA, Philippines—As many as three out of 10 government employees have mental health problems, a recent survey has found out.

The most common mental disorders found among state workers were depression and anxiety disorder, which require professional intervention, said Dr. Edgardo Tolentino Jr. of the Philippine Psychiatric Association.

He said the 2007 survey, an initiative of the Department of Health, used the diagnostic tool Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) recommended by the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association to get a picture of the mental health of Filipino government workers.

Employees of major government departments based in the National Capital Region were covered by the survey.

“Surprisingly as much as 30 per cent of the respondents were found to have mental health problems. There was one or two who were even possibly suicidal,” Tolentino said at a forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians on Tuesday.

“We think that people are just normal, but they are actually harboring mental health problems which could be picked up by a diagnostic tool,” continued Tolentino, who practices at the Makati Medical Center.

He explained that depression is not to be confused with the sadness caused by the loss of or separation from a loved one.

“Depression is an illness triggered, even without any loss or separation... (by) brain chemical imbalance. It has to be treated because of the danger of suicide. So we help non-psychiatrists detect this,” Tolentino said.

Dr. Tante Delia of the PPA who practices at the Philippine General Hospital, said the recent findings jibe with the findings made more than a decade ago by the late Dr. Antonio Perlas, then one of the country's leading practitioners of mental health care.

Perlas' 1994 survey conducted in communities in Region VI with 3,000 respondents showed that 14.3 per cent or nearly two out of 10 persons suffered from a range of anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder, phobia and general depression.

“They needed professional help, medication or psycho-therapy,” Delia explained.

Tolentino said a nationwide survey is being planned to get a bigger picture of the mental health among Filipinos.

He said the findings of the 2007 survey indicated that those who showed mental problems were those with less formal education and those in difficult family situations.

“The more stressors you have and if you don't have enough resources to deal with the problem, it may turn to be a mental health problem,” Tolentino said.

He stressed the “life-saving” importance of diagnosing mental disorder.

In some celebrated cases of suicide, the “psychological autopsy” revealed that the suicidal person had given out several warning signs which were unfortunately undetected.

Tolentino cited one case where the suicide left not only a note but gave his bank automated teller machine PIN number to his staff to give to his family after his death.

“There were a lot of signs but the people around them didn't detect that there was already depression. It's life-saving to detect depression. It's preventable, there's something we can do to prevent it,” he stressed as he noted the high number of patients suffering from anxiety attacks.

“Over the past 10 years, there's a high incidence of anxiety among Filipinos. We are an anxious people,” Tolentino said.

But he also noted how Filipinos use humor as a coping mechanism during times of disaster and national upheavals.

“Is it good or bad? It could be good. But the mature way of coping is if we can use it to find a solution,” he said.

The Philippine Psychiatric Association is lobbying Congress to pass a mental health bill to strengthen and institutionalize services for mental health care.

Hope for Battered Husbands

Interesting article about divorce, marriage expiry dates and battered husbands...

Women's group wants expiry date on marriage

By Perseus Echeminada (The Philippine Star) Updated January 08, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list group representing separated and abandoned women proposed yesterday the enactment of a law that will mandate a 10-year marriage validity to spare incompatible couples the expense of lengthy legal proceedings before their marriages are annulled.

The women's party-list group 1-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA) said that marriage licenses should be similar to passports that could be renewed, but marriage licenses should have an expiration period of at least 10 years. Failure to renew the license would automatically render the marriage null and void.

By putting a prescription period on the marriage license, the couple will be spared from the legal process that is clogging our courts of law,†Margie Tajon, president of 1-ABAA, told reporters during the Daungan ng Balita news forum held at the Danarra Hotel in Quezon City.

Tajon said the group expects strong opposition from the Catholic Church and other groups on the proposed measure but they will fight for the passage of the law in Congress for the benefit of abandoned and separated women who are forced to raise their family alone because they have no right and freedom to look for new partners.

A marriage license should be just like a passport or driver's license. If we are not interested to renew it, then it expires, she said.

Tajon said if a couple is serious in making their marriage binding then they should renew it after 10 years.

She said the expiration of the marriage license will allow couples to assess their relationship and instead of filing a civil case for the nullification of the marriage, they can just allow the license to expire and subsequently search for new partners in life.

'We are tough women, we will fight for our right to be free from the bondage of marriage,†Tajon said.

Nacionalista Party senatorial candidate Ramon Mitra Jr., who was also present at the forum, said the proposal of 1-ABAA has inspired him to form a group representing battered husbands.

Mitra said he would support the creation of Bagong Alyansa ng mga Ginoong Sinisigawan at Inaapi ng Kababaihan (BAGSIK) so that both battered men and women would have a level playing field.

Mitra said if there are tough women there are also BAGSIK men who need equal protection under the law.