This was the scene Saturday night, Sept. 11, 2004, in front of Chicago’s Radisson O’Hare Hotel as 600 delegates of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) awaited the arrival of buses that would take them to the Hyatt Regency Hotel for the Filipiniana Gala Night.
A group of Filipino American Republicans from Michigan were clustered around Susan Bonzon Ralston, executive assistant to White House senior adviser Karl Rove, to have their kodak moments. After a group photo, they spontaneously started chanting, “Four more years! Four more years!”
As the chanting reached a crescendo, a counterchant from Filipino American Democrats erupted: “Four more months! Four more months!”
Would this chanting and counterchanting engender the same, bitter partisan rancor that has characterized the presidential election?
Hardly. After the chanting and counterchanting, both groups started laughing and shaking hands with each other as they boarded the same bus to the gala.
The 600 delegates attending the Sixth National Empowerment Conference of the NaFFAA here in the Windy City all understood that despite regional, generational or political differences, the delegates were all riding the same bus — the bus of Filipino political empowerment.
At this year’s conference, the main issue discussed by delegates from the 12 NaFFAA regions from New York to Hawai‘i was the status of H.R. 677, the bill that would promise equity for Filipino World War II veterans by reversing the Rescission Act of 1946 that took benefits away from them.
As of last count, 192 representatives had signed up as co-sponsors of the bill, including all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Only 26 more were needed to secure passage of the bill. The problem is that 180 of the co-sponsors are Democrats and only 12 are Republicans, despite the fact that the main sponsor is Rep. Randy Cunningham, a California Republican.
But the real problem is that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has refused to move H.R. 677 out from its virtual prison in the Veterans Subcommittee to the House floor for a vote. So even if a majority of House members were to sign on as co-sponsors, if the bill does not move to the House floor for a vote, it will not pass.
The key to getting DeLay and the Republican House leadership to bring H.R.677 to a vote is the White House. If President Bush were to back the bill, he could easily get the GOP House leaders to release it from its subcommittee confinement.
Many NaFFAA delegates believe the key to Bush’s support lies in the hands of gala night guest speaker Ralston. Unfortunately, Ralston deftly deflected the question by saying she does “not do policy.”
In her speech, Ralston talked about how proud she feels to work for a “rock-star president.” “He cares about your issues,” she assured her audience.
Loida Nicolas Lewis, NaFFAA national chair, challenged Ralston to show the community that Bush truly cares by supporting the bill.
A music video that played at the gala told the story of a Filipino World War II veteran abandoned in a nursing home and forced to watch as other residents laugh and smile with their loving children and grandchildren. The video was by the hip-hop group Black-Eyed Peas led by “Will.I.Am.”whose real name is Allan Pineda Lindo. Woven through the video is footage of the Black-Eyed Peas performing, images of Lindo as an adult and as a child, and footage of Filipino veterans chained to the gates of the White House demanding equity. The polished video is the work of Daly City filmmaker Patrick Ginelsa.
Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) recounted his experience as a 1-year-old victim of racial profiling when he was placed in an internment camps during World War II. Honda, the chair of the Asian Pacific American Congressional Caucus, tearfully read out the names of 11 Filipino World War II veterans from his San Jose district who have died this year alone.
“How many more of them will die before H.R. 677 is passed?” he asked.
Rodel Rodis is a member of the San Francisco Community College Board, a columnist for the weekly Philippine News and national director of Issues of the NaFFAA.