OFW Town Hall in San Francisco Highlights Filipino Kindness in Pandemic

PRESS RELEASE
SFPCG-PR-010-2021

OFW Town Hall in San Francisco Highlights Filipino Kindness in Pandemic

SAN FRANCISCO/MANILA, 18/19 February 2021 – The kindness of Filipinos towards one another, especially to those in need, and hope amid the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be the themes of the OFW Town Hall that featured the Consulate General in San Francisco and the Filipino American communities under its consular jurisdiction.

The online OFW Town Hall featured Consul General Neil Frank R. Ferrer, who served as co-host of OFW Town Hall host, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola and four Filipino American community leaders from California and Washington states.

Consul General Ferrer gave a general overview of the situation of Filipino Americans in 10 states under the Consulate’s scope: Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. “When the travel and health restrictions are lifted, we would be happy to resume our consular outreaches to areas outside of California and assist our kababayans who need these services,” he said.

One of the resource persons form the FIlAm community was Ms. Elena Lanot who is a Filipino professional from a leading tech company in Silicon Valley. She started a group with a couple of friends called PIPOL, which stands for Pinoys In Pursuit of Learning, to encourage young Filipinos, especially those in public schools, to take up STEM classes and technology-related courses, so they too can have a chance to have a career in Silicon Valley in the future.

At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Ms. Lanot and PIPOL worked with other non-profit organizations to donate prepaid Internet devices and cards for Cavite National High School and a school in Liloan to help Filipino students in their online learning. “Our thinking was how could we immediately help Filipino students in the short term during the pandemic,” Ms. Lanot said.

Undersecretary Arriola mentioned that in most of the OFW Town Hall meetings her group has conducted, a recurring trend involved Filipinos helping their fellow Filipinos. She added that the generosity of Filipinos is inspiring.

Another guest, Mr. Gabby Moraleda, Executive Director of Pilipino Senior Resource Center (PSRC) in the South of Market in San Francisco and the San Francisco City Government-declared Philippine cultural district called SOMA Pilipinas, noted the challenges of Filipino American seniors, such as their limited knowledge on the use of

technology, which is most needed during the pandemic because of the need for physical distancing. “We have taught our seniors to use technology, such as using cellphones, and we briefed them about computer and technology-related scams victimizing the elderly,” said Mr. Moraleda. He noted that FilAm youths have stepped up to the plate during the pandemic and volunteered to assist the elderly in terms of providing them hot meals, and virtual tutorial lessons. He advised Filipinos to do even the smallest of things and make a difference in the lives of seniors. “The window to the hearts of seniors is singing,” he added.

From Washington state, FilAm community leader Ms. Ellen Abellera shared how Filipino Americans have been helping the community through food donation drives, information dissemination about COVID-19 assistance and updates, such as vaccination schedules.

Ms. Abellera is President & CEO of FilAm REACT. She is also the chairperson of the Communities of Concern Commission, a statewide coalition of 22 leaders of color and rural communities seeking public investment to build capital assets in communities of color for COVID-19 relief and recovery and reduce poverty. She also recently accepted a Congressional Partnership Specialist Position from the Bureau of Census for Census 2020.

Her advice to Filipinos was, “Do not forget to care for our fellow Filipinos and use one’s talents to help especially the underserved.”

The online discussion was capped by immigration lawyer and FilAm community stalwart Atty. Lou S. Tancinco’s updates on prospective immigration policies of the Biden administration. She noted that the Democratic leadership has introduced in the U.S. Congress an immigration bill that provides for an eight-year pathway to citizenship.

She noted that the Citizenship Act of 2021 is comprehensive and the centerpiece of the bill is the pathway to citizenship, which aims to give 11 million undocumented migrants an opportunity to avail themselves of a legal status in the U.S. She noted that the administration is using executive action to reverse some immigration policies of the former administration.

According to Atty. Tancinco, there are conditions to avail of the eight-year pathway to US Citizenship, which would involve the granting of a green card or permanent residence status to those who apply and avail themselves of the opportunity and by the fifth year they can possibly apply to become a citizen after three more years. Conditions include the presence of the person in the U.S. on or before January 2021, passing a criminal and security background check, payment of tax, etc. She added that a lot of Filipinos in the U.S. are contributing to social security and paying taxes even if they are not yet permanent residents or have a legal status.

She added that the so-called Dreamers, who were brought along to the U.S. by their parents, will be given an opportunity to legalize their status. Atty. Tancinco expressed hope that Filipino World War II veterans will not be included in the numerical limitations on immigrant visas.

Atty. Tancinco is also advocating to stop the termination of the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole (FWVP) program, which allowed veterans to facilitate their family members’ coming to the U.S. “We are working to educate veterans for the continuation of this program so that their children can come over and take care of them in their twilight years,” Atty. Tancinco said.

She added that there is hope that the United States will become a welcoming nation again [in terms of migration], based on the pronouncements of the Biden administration. “We’re all excited what is coming up and we’re looking forward to [this new legislation and policies].”
She emphasized that Filipinos should prioritize their health at this time of the pandemic. Atty. Tancinco also requested assistance on behalf of Filipino migrants who wish to go back to the Philippines during the pandemic and possible financial assistance for those in need. Undersecretary Arriola mentioned that there is a COVID-19 response fund available for Filipinos in distress abroad. She assured that Filipinos can approach the nearest Embassy or Consulate to help Filipinos where possible. END