Philippine Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. exhorted
Filipino-Americans to realize their true power by going out to register and
vote in November as the nation’s largest Fil-Am organization vowed to intensify
efforts to bring more Fil-Ams to the voting precints.
“Since Day 1 I have been telling them that for us to have a
potent voice in the US Congress, Fil-Ams would have to go out and vote,” Cuisia
told the Manila Mail.
In Detroit, Mi. the National Federation of Filipino-American
Associations (NaFFAA) held its 10th Empowerment Conference to renew its long
term goal of mobilizing Filipinos of voting age in the US to go out and vote in
local and national elections.
Vowing to seize the opportunity made possible by their
growing numbers in the US
– 3.4 million, according to the 2010 Census – the Fil-Am community leaders
reaffirmed their commitment to register their family, friends, neighbors,
co-workers and newly-naturalized citizens and get them to the polls in
November.
Now in it’s 6th year, NaFFAA’s FilAm Vote project is
undertaking aggressive voter education and voter registration, notably in
states with large Filipino populations.
In Nevada ,
for instance, the number of Filipinos grew by 146 percent in 10 years. Other
so-called battleground states, like Virginia
and Florida ,
have drawn the attention of both national parties because of the rapid growth
of the Asian American community.
“This was in the minds of our founding fathers when NaFFAA
was formed 15 years ago,” said NaFFAA National Chairman Ed Navarra in his
keynote address at the opening of the conference on Aug. 3. “An ethnic
community that is able to translate its numbers into political muscle and
influence national policies that affect our interests.”
He recalled how NaFFAA’s founding chairman, Alex
Esclamado, rallied the community to press Congress to pass the Filipino
Veterans Equity bill. “Alex believed in harnessing our numbers to
correct an historic injustice. It may have been an ‘impossible dream,’ but he
knows it takes political action to make it come true.”
Cuisia suggested that American policy- and lawmakers have
not really responded to the political potential of the Fil-Am community because
of its virtual absence in elections.
“Unfortunately in the last 2 presidential elections less
than 10 percent of Fil-Ams actually cast their votes and that’s why we don’t
have a potent voice in the US Congress,” the Philippines ’ chief envoy pointed
out.
“Legislators look at that and say anyway the Filipinos don’t
vote,” he added.
In the 2004 presidential elections, only 594,000 Filipino
Americans voted - a decline of 7 percent because 122,000 registered voters did
not cast their ballots,” said Gloria Caoile, former NaFFAA national vice chair
and co-chair of FilAm Vote.
"It didn’t get any better in 2008. Potentially, 40
percent of our total number can be mobilized to go to the polls. But
we need to register them if they haven't done so and educate them on
issues that directly affect our community so they will appreciate what's at stake,
especially for our children and families."
Parallel to the get-out-to-vote campaign, Cuisia explained
that more Fil-Ams should pursue political office or at least consider a career
in American politics.
He pointed to Alexander de Ocampo who is running for a seat
in the Los Angeles ,
Ca. city council. De Ocampo belongs to the pioneering batch of the Filipino
American Youth Leadership Program (FAYLP) which recently returned from a
working tour of the Philippines
where they met with top Philippine political and business leaders.
As his project for the FAYLP, de Ocampo reportedly wants to
promote political empowerment because, as the Philippine envoy averred, “he’s
eventually going to run for higher political office; he’s quite young and it’s
good he’s starting early.”
Cuisia noted that Rep. Steve Austria, the first 1st
generation Fil-Am to win a seat in the US Congress, is not running for
re-election in November.
Energized by the day’s discussions, delegates caucused
separately as Democrats and Republicans and mapped out strategies to
mobilize their base. “But our common goal is to build political power for our
community,” said Caoile.
“So much is at stake that we can’t afford to simply stand by
and not be politically engaged.”
At the 3-day NaFFAA conference delegates also addressed
immigration reform, the DREAM Act, the SAVE Act, medicare portability, medical
and trade missions to the Philippines, pending issues related to Filipino World
War II veterans, and the legal defense of Filipinos who need
assistance.
The Filipino American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(FALDEF), a NAFFAA affiliate, was set up four years ago for this purpose. It is
providing legal counsel and assistance to Jose Antonio Vargas, the acclaimed
Pulizer-Prize winner who recently disclosed his status as an undocumented
immigrant.
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