Washington, D.C. – Filipinos and Filipino American commu-nity leaders and supporters joined a nationwide “Call to Action” today to press immediate passage of an immigration reform bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants and protect family reunification provisions.

At a rally on Capitol Hill, which drew thousands of leaders and supporters from religious communities, immigrant rights coalitions and labor organizations, these de-mands were repeated by speakers who fired up the crowd with chants of “Si, Si Puwede” (Yes We Can) and “The Time Is Now.”

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85th FEU Graduation Ceremonies, Institute of Accounts, Business, and Finance

Graduation speeches often take on the character of the person delivering them. I am not a priest, so don’t expect me to preach to you. I’m not an inventor, so I can’t tell you about the magic of scientific discovery. I’m not a philosopher, either, so don’t hope too hard for me to tell you the meaning of life, love, or happiness.

What I am is an accountant, a finance man, and a public servant.  And so today I will tell you about business, service, and my observations on how to be a success.

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On May 13, I vote in Baguio City and this will mean giving the elected mayor, vice mayor, and city council the power of the purse over P1.286 billion.

I would have added the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) of P35 million but as of February 22, it has all been released to the incumbent's chosen implementing institutions, leaving nothing to the incoming representative.

Vicious cycle

It always begins with your vote.

We Filipinos engage in elections with gusto! Elections are like fiestas with that sinister edge of violence and greed. We love the pomp and pageantry and we gamely debate and divide ourselves based on our choices – not that there is much difference these days, or that we do make informed choices.

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As the Philippines plays host to the third ASEAN Experts Working Group against human trafficking, Dakila, an artist collective organizing the Freedom Rides for a Human Trafficking Free Philippines, urges the ASEAN Experts Working Group to come up with a regional comprehensive approach to fight trafficking.

Ayeen Karunungan, spokesperson of the group Dakila, explained, “While we recognize that our government partners in this campaign – the Department of Justice Inter--‐Agency Council Against Trafficking (DOJ--‐IACAT) under the leadership of Secretary Leila de Lima and Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, and the Presidential Anti--‐Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) led by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., have been pushing for stronger measures and initiating programs to help solve the problem of human trafficking in the Philippines, there is still a need for a more comprehensive action plan to address this regional problem.”

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