Call to action on S.1315 in the US Congress

FILVETS CAMPAIGN - U.S. House will Vote on S.1315 on Wednesday 21 May

Urgent YOU CALL, FAX OR EMAIL your US Representative

to Support S.1315 and Ensure Benefits to FILIPINO WW2 BENEFITS

We Will Lose IF YOU DO NOT DO IT NOW!

To All FILAMS:

The House will vote on S1315 on Wednesday. FOR US TO WIN, ALL FILAMS MUST CALL YOUR US REPRESENTATIVES NOW TO VOTE YES FOR S.1315 AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THE BENEFITS FOR FILIPINO WWII VETERANS ARE IN IT!

S.1315 was passed by the US Senate last month, benefits all veterans, and important to us FilAms, includes benefits for our Filipino WWII veterans.

Call on your US Representative, or telephone, fax, or email them, NOW!!

The contact information for your Congressman is on http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/. Or email your message using the process below. The message is: I AM (your name), A VOTER FROM (your home town/city), (your home state). I ASK THAT YOU SUPPORT S.1315 AND ENSURE THE BENEFITS ARE IN IT FOR THE FILIPINO WW2 VETERANS.

Armando 'Doy' Heredia
Natl Exec Dir, NaFFAA
Natl Fed of Filipino American Assns
- the Natl Orgn and Voice of FilAms for Unity & Empowerment
________________________

TO SEND EMAIL MESSAGE TO YOUR US REPRESENTATIVE:

I know many of you have never called a politician or anything like that in your life, but you must have an Internet connection to receive this message. IF YOU HAVE NOT CALLED OR FAX, YOU SHOULD EMAIL YOUR US REPRESENTATIVE NOW.

IF YOU HESITATE TO SPEAK TO THEM, EMAIL THEM. Just follow the following steps to send an email message directly to your Congressperson.

Print this page as a guide or copy it in a piece of paper. Each step below is detailed but really easy.

1. Open your web browser and go to http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/
2. Enter your zip code and click on GO. You will go to a new page with the list of your elected officials.
3. On the bottom of the leftmost column, click on the name of your US Representative.
4. You will go to a new page with your Representative's photo and contact information. Click on SEND MESSAGE in blue under the photo.
5. You will go to a new page where you will type in and send your message.

1. In the subject box, enter: SUPPORT S1315 AND DO NOT AMEND FILIPINO VETERANS BENEFITS.
2. Click on the right arrow on the Issue Area and select VETERANS AFFAIRS in the very end of the list
3. In the message box, enter: I AM A VOTER FROM (your home town/city), (your home state). I ASK THAT YOU SUPPORT S.1315 AND DO NOT AMEND THE BENEFITS IN IT FOR FILIPINO WW2 VETERANS.
4. Type in your name in the Name box.
5. Complete Part 2 with your contact information. This is important. It will show to the US Representative that you are indeed from his voting district.
6. Make sure the REMEMBER ME box is checked.
7. Click the SEND MESSAGE in blue in the bottom. You will get an acknowledgement page that your message has been sent.
   

When you have sent your message, help each of your family and friends of voting age to do the same thing. Add the web page to your list of FAVORITES so you can use it for follow-up messages later. That is it. DO IT RIGHT NOW!

National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
email: press@naffaa.org
phone: 202.986.1153
web: http://www.naffaa.org

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JUSTICE VS. PERVERTED TRUTH

SENTOSA IS LYING! AVALON NURSES DID NOT WALK OUT ON THE JOB! Sour Grapes Plague Sentosa Camp as Criminal Case Moves to Higher Court

NEW YORK-As oral arguments continue this month with the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, the healthcare management company known as SentosaCare LLC is launching a desperate media offensive against the 10 Filipino nurses that lawfully resigned from the Sentosa-owned Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Suffolk County, Long Island.

Pushing the same line that the nurses "walked out on" and "endangered" their patients, SentosaCare LLC filed criminal cases against the 10 nurses who were recruited from the Sentosa Recruitment Agency (SRA) in Manila back in 2006. The nurses maintain they adhered to standard labor regulations on each of their resignations.

"None of us, except for one, were on duty when we submitted our papers to resign, and that one on-duty nurse waited till she was done with her shift and that the next attending nurse was in," states one of the nurses now known as the Avalon 10. "Absolutely no patients were abandoned or endangered."

So why is the Sentosa camp claiming otherwise to the media in a current frenzy?

"Desperation," states Rico Foz, Executive Vice-President of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns or NAFCON, which has been heading the international campaign seeking justice for the nurses. "SentosaCare LLC is in the lucrative business of human trafficking and illegal recruitment. These nurses have been victimized and are now fighting back, and the right people are listening. Now Sentosa is desperate to ruin their reputation as nurses and professionals."

So much support has poured to the nurses now known as the Sentosa 27++. A minimum of 27 nurses from the Philippines, including the 10 from Avalon Gardens, signed up to work for SentosaCare's facilities in New York through the SRA in Manila. Upon arrival in the United States, SentosaCare LLC not only failed honor the tenets of the nurses' contracts, but subjected them to a steep 60:1 patient-to-nurse ratio and withheld their wages.

"Our case has always been about the advocating for the very best care possible for our patients and that is not going to stop," stated SentosaCare LLC owner and CEO Ben Philipson. "If that means pursuing justice on both sides of the Pacific. If it means prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law those caregivers and others who would do our patients harm intentionally or through negligence, then we will do just that."

"The bottom line is there is no such thing as quality patient care if the healthcare management company itself is subjecting its healthcare workers to indentured servitude, and inhumane working conditions, not to mention breaching labor contracts," Foz added. "It was for these strong and legitimate reasons that the nurses chose to resign, not walk-out. The nurses are not guilty of negligence, SentosaCare LLC is."

The recent decision to transfer jurisdiction of the criminal case from Suffolk County to the New York Supreme Court may also be a factor in SentosaCare's media offensives against the nurses.

"Perhaps Mr. Philipson is sweating bullets because all his millions can't buy the favoritism of the New York Supreme Court, unlike all the money he invested to buy-off the Suffolk County Court System, after holding a series of closed-door meetings with Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota," Foz continued.

With the support of the immigrant community and major labor allies such as the American Nurses Association, New York State Nurses Association, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1199, the nurses remain strong and confident that the truth will set them free.

"Sentosa may have a million-dollar press machinery, but the nurses have the truth, and no amount of money can bend the truth," Foz ended.

Reference:
Fr. Ben Alforque
President
National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)

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Charice Pempengco & the Wonders of the Internet

Charice Pempengco the child prodigy is on her way to stardom, all because a stranger posted her performance on youtube that was picked up by influential American television host like Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, UK’s Paul O’Grady, and other notable Entertainment television shows in the US and Korea where she was the most requested guest.

Unlike teenage pop idols whose fame or claim to stardom was their being famous being the daughter of famous parents this little girl has none of that but plenty on singing skills and delivery so mature and rich. If you just listen without seeing her you would have thought this is a performance by a well honed and seasoned veteran in the performing arts.

Indeed the internet has that democratizing effect of leveling the playing field. Armed only with pure talent Charice Pempengco was able to share the limelight with a pool of numerous celebrity stars promoted by the best PR marketing outfit in the world. Now that truly makes the internet a truly wonderful development in technology that affords us to discover a singing sensation outside of the structured corporate world that literally package to us regular mortals entertainers that are rather based on what sells than talent.

The best performance ever I should say of Charice Pempengco singing Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" that has me almost tearing up was in Oprah Winfrey show seeing the host herself awed in disbelief and standing ovations from equally mesmerized audiences. It is dazzling to say the least. Awesome is an understatement if I may so and this is the first time I have watched her on youtube at that is truly impressive. Can you imagine if you can watch her in a well produced concert venue with excellent acoustics and audio equipment?

I really never paid attention to this youtube talents especially when most of them are a joke like that prison idol dancers politicized to whine and whimper like dogs by their master trainer prison director in supporting a leader with questionable mandate.

Hopefully she stays that way and not let the political vultures take advantage of her innocence and rising popularity that will truly spoil a prodigy’s rise to stardom. Charice Pempengco reminded people of Celine Dion, who was also a child prodigy. She is so good that when her manager/husband discovered her took a gamble and risked everything he got to promote Celine and look at where she is now a very successful star to this day is in demand. Is Charice headed along the same path as Celine Dion? That I have to see and I wish her all the best to make her dreams come true…………… At a time when we see the Philippines drowning from the muck of corruption and scandals run by perverted leaders whose sense of values is driven by such evil depths of greed and amidst the squalor, the possibility of an international star on the rise against all odds is on the horizon making us feel good in the process.

Enjoy her performance at Oprah Winfrey Show below on youtube or visit Charice Pempengco's website to learn more about her.

See also other Filipino trailblazers featured proudly at Pedestrian Observer GB:

• A Gem Named Lani Misalucha
• Filipina Singers Wow Listeners in the USA
• Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton Turns Pro!

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