The Sentiments of An Italian-American For the Filipinos

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I am chronicling the events and activities related to the super typhoon Yolanda on The Yolanda Chronicles. While gathering information for the first anniversary of the super typhoon, I stumbled upon a sentiment expressed by an Italian-American for the Filipinos.

This Italian-American speaker from New York was invited by a Filipino-American organization, also in New York, to speak before them, most likely, about a topic related to the theme of the event, which was Filipino-American civic association in Staten, NY. In the middle of his talk, the president of the organization stopped him. Embarrassed, the speaker left the event.

Below is the speaker's sentiment verbatim which he wrote in the comments section of a news story related to his speech, which was about Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the Filipinos. If not deleted yet, you may find the comment here.
This is all a waste of time.

Last Saturday, I addressed a large group of Filipinos entitled "the Filipino-American Civic Association on Staten Island, NY. This group is mainly made up of prominent Filipino professionals. Doctors, Lawyers, etc. I started my speech with some American-Filipino History, dating back to World War II and how we fought together against the Japanese.

I reminded the group that the US government did not properly include them as with many veteran entitlements as promised. I further discussed the present Immigration problem as the Philippines is one of 4 countries in the world that are given the least access to US Visas, Green Cards and citizenship. I told them, it's a form of discrimination and should be given first priority due to the fact that we were always great allies, Filipinos always shown allegiance to the US. They are still a big presence in our Navy. Many are educated and skilled in health fields. They Speak English. They have a fantastic work ethic. Ninety-nine % are Catholic/Christian. Very low criminal history. Not only will they not be a burden to the US, but will [also be] a great asset. I said all that to tie in my next and final issue: TPS.

At this moment, the president of the organization interrupted me and said, "This speech of yours has nothing to do with this organization and we have no interested [sic] in these topics, but thank you for coming". I was speechless, I felt my face turn red. I just packed up my notes and left. I quickly realized that if their own countryman are not interested, what chance will they have with the US Government.

Please note: I am not Filipino. I am an Italian American born in NYC. Please generate this letter with all your contacts, newspapers, newspapers, friends and family. You can contact me at: stannenb2002@yahoo.com. Phone: 917-291-5544 Sonny

Comments

  1. Unknown12/12/14, 4:52 AM

    The speaker was actually talking sense when he said something about Filipinos are included in the countries with the least access to US Visas, green cards, etc. I think US with its many promises to Filipinos has neglected this issue long enough. We are even giving them access to our military exercises and our country is very open to accepting them when they are not. It is sad to think that foreigners wanted to take action against this but us Filipinos do not. Maybe because those who attended are already comfortable with their status in the US.

    ReplyDelete
  2. amikvs12/15/14, 5:54 PM

    I quite agree and it's sad to face the reality that there are Filipinos, just based on those I know in US like my friends and relatives, have lost social and economic concern for the Philippines. Settling in US is an escape. Once they have acquired US citizenship, they have reached their goal and that's it.

    ReplyDelete

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