EPCC NEWS
July 3, 2014

FILAM LEADERS SAYS AQUINO III IS IMPEACHABLE, CALLS FOR TPS FOR THE PHILIPPINES, NOW!

Los Angeles- Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III committed an impeachable offense when he allowed the “impounding “of government funds according to the decision of the Supreme Court that declared certain portion of the DAP unconstitutional but majority of the Fil-Am believes he cannot be impeached.

This was the consensus of of the majority or more 75% of the Filipino-American leaders present during the TALAKAYAN sa FACLA discussions , Thursday, July 3, when the forum focused on the recent decision of the Supreme Court last Wednesday, July 3 in the Philippines and the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for the Philippines.

FACLA Director Dr.Marc Caratao said, “President Aquino is responsible for the actions of the DBM Secretary Butch Abad and equally responsible are all government agencies and officials who received the DAP.”

Waste of Time And Effort

Meanwhile Rudy Ferran of the Knights of Rizal said, It is just a waste of time to go the process of impeachment now that there are only 20 months left for the term of President Aquino III”

Sir Tony Berango of the KOR also said. “ Although Estrada was the one who exposed the DAP, he cannot take the credit for it because he received it and wanted only to implicate Abad and the president with the scandal.”

Dr. Orly Cagampan said, “The Supreme Court did not strike down the whole DAP. I think there is a compromise by saying it remains to be proven if the DAP really help bolster the economy, thus the need to audit all the DAP disbursement.”

On the other hand, Art Garcia of the Alliance-Philippines said. “ the arrest order for Enrile is coming after ten days, the Sandiganbayan will decide if the accused senators will be suspended from their work at the Senate.”

TPS for the Philippines, Now

On the other side, FACLA President Jun Baul on the other hand said, “On the issue of the TPS, I wrote President Obama to grant the Philippines, the TPS because it is an act of a true friend to help another friend in great need.

The Philippines have been a good friend of the United States, sacrificed a lot during World War II, fought with America during the Korean War and the Vietnam War and have approved the EDCA last April, and yet the US have not acted for its friend. Is this ultimate insult to us? By not granting us the TPS, is it not a great insult?” Baul asked.

The Filipino American community mobilized nationwide to push for the TPS in all major cities where there are Filipinos especially on July 4th, also known as the Philippine-American friendship Day.

It has been eight months since the Filipino-American community requested the DHS to grant the Philippines the TPS Status. Up to now, the proper authorities have not acted on the request.

For more information about TALAKAYAN please call (213)484-1527 or email us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.new facla.org.

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JFAV UPDATES

July 01, 2014

REFORM THE DVA NOW, CHANGE OF SYSTEM THAT CARES FOR THE VETERANS AND THEIR SURVIVORS, NOT CHANGE OF PEOPLE- JFAV

Los Angeles-The Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV), a national alliance of Filipino World War II veterans and their survivors, youth and students and community organizations based in the United States calls President Barack Obama plans to nominate former Procter & Gamble executive Robert McDonald as the next Veterans Affairs secretary as a useless palliative in the systemically corrupt Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), the most corrupt government agency in the American system of government.

Like General Shinseheki, McDonald also has a military background, graduating near the top of his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and serving as a captain in the Army, primarily in the 82nd Airborne Division. And like Shinsheki who promised to reform the graft-laden DVA,

JFAV is sure that Mcdonald or any nominee in the future will fail to reduce the 600,000 backlogged American claims and 100,000 long waiting list for current medical treatment delays and that includes the denial of 25,000 claims of Filipino World War II Veterans and 60,000 Filipina widows/survivors and the constant influx of new veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere.

JFAV believes that the US Congress and the White House that seeks to shore up an agency beset by treatment delays and struggling to deal with an influx of new veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan do not really understand how to solve the problem and only knows how to give money to DVA to spend but do not know how to use them expeditiously.

From One Military Bureaucrat to Another

JFAV know that McDonald resigned abruptly from Procter & Gamble in May 2013 amid pressure from investors concerned that he was not doing enough to boost the company’s performance.

The VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the country, with more than 300,000 fulltime employees and nearly 9 million veterans enrolled for care. But the agency has come under intense scrutiny in recent months amid reports of patients dying while waiting for appointments and of treatment delays in VA facilities nationwide.

Obama dispatched one of his top advisers, Rob Nabors, to the VA to help investigate agency issues and appointed Sloan Gibson as acting secretary while awaiting a permanent replacement.

DVA Systemic Problem Needs A Systemic Solution

Nabors and Gibson delivered a scathing report to Obama Friday, citing “significant and chronic system failures” in the nation’s health system. The report also portrayed the Veterans Affairs Department as a struggling agency battling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in resources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and mental needs.

Even the Chair of the Senate Veterans Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Maine) said in a statement, “The VA needs significantly improved transparency and accountability and it needs an increased number of doctors, nurses and other medical staff so that all eligible veterans get high-quality health care in a timely manner.”

JFAV believes that sweeping and immediate reforms is needed in the DVA, an increase in the number of medical staff that will treat the veterans and not the non medical and administrative personells that saddles the DVA with bureaucratic maze and let the thousands of American veterans die untreated in timely manner and not cosmetic change or change of people in the DVA.

Reform and Restructure the DVA, Now!

More Doctors and Medical Staff, not Too Much Bureaucratic Fat and Baggages.

Money for Veterans and Their Survivors, Not for War

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USAP Coalition
PR July 01,14
Los Angeles

USAP COALITION: PH SUPREME COURT DECLARED DAP UNCONSTITUTIONAL, PROSECUTE GUILTY PARTIES NOW!

Los Angeles- The US Action Against Pork Barrel or PDAF (USAP) Coalition and the Filipino-Community in the United States declares its time for all those who are responsible for this financial mess and blatant violation of the Philippine Constitution be held accountable now that the Supreme Court partially struck down the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of the Aquino III’s Department of Budget and Management (DBM) ,

USAP Coalition demands that DBM Secretary Abad resigns and take the responsibility for the gross violation of the Philippine Constitution and the investigation of DAP allotment as well as the PDAF Scandal be pursued and all the guilty parties be punished.

USAP Alarmed with the Callousness of the Accused.

The USAP Coalition on the other hand believes that Senator Jinggoy Estrada cannot crow about the DAP’s unconstitutionality and take credit for the act of the Supreme Court because he only spoke against it after the fact that the received his PDAF and DAP and had a lot of explaining to do at the Sandiganbayan about the his case.

For the USAP Coalition Senator Estrada and his co-accused are equally guilty of PDAF ad DAP plunder and is greatly alarmed at the temerity and the callousness of those who were charged wit plunder for they flaunt their privileges and taunt the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan as well as the administration in their utter disregard of them law even in jail where they received different kinds of special treatment.

USAP really wanders why until now Senator Juan Ponce Enrile is free and have not been arrested or as he said, have not turned himself or surrendered to the authorities. This is really the proof that there is different standard of justice for the poor and the oppressed and another for the ruling class and the rich privileged few.

For USAP, President Aquino III shares the blame on this utter disrespect for the law of by those of the accused . By saying Enrile should receive special considerations because of his age, Aquino is giving leeway to the former architect of martial law and is giving special treatment to those accused with plunder rendering inutile all efforts for them to remorse for their crimes.

The USAP Coalition again reiterate the call of the Filipino people in the Philippines and abroad; punish all those who are charged with plunder, misuse of PDAF and DAP , speedy trial and exact justice; let justice prevail and let the guilty suffer.

NO to PDAF and DAP! Let justice Prevail!

The United States Against PDAF (USAP) Coalition
Los Angeles

July 01, 2014

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