Short takes: Logbook of a reporter

LOS ANGELES – For a reporter, no two days are the same. One morning, you find yourself in the middle of a serious press conference with the Los Angeles City Mayor James Hahn. The next day you’re sweating in a basketball gym in downtown LA, covering a basketball camp. On better days, you’re sipping wine and rubbing elbows with artists at a book party in Santa Monica.

This week I celebrate two months of combined hard work and fun as the Los Angeles correspondent of Balitang America, a 30-minute news program that airs every Friday on TFC – The Filipino Channel, a cable channel offered to customers throughout the United States.

MONDAY – Although California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had already vetoed State Assembly Bill 2512, its author, Assemblymember Jerome Horton, is not giving up.

"It was a simple bill that cost the State of California absolutely nothing. But it will go a long way toward forging a relationship between Filipino-Americans and the Filipinos who live in the Philippines today," explains Horton. He’s of African-American descent; yet he is joining the fight for equity and recognition for our Filipino war veterans.

This bill seeks to push public school districts in Califronia to include in their social studies curriculum the role of Filipinos in World War II. When WWII began, the Philippines was a US territory and Filipinos were recognized as US nationals. In 1941, President Roosevelt issued a military order calling "into service of the Armed Forces of the US . . . all of the organized military forces of the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines."

Approximately 142,000 Filipinos fought alongside US soldiers under the American flag.

"It is a shame that the Governor is unwilling to recognize the role of Filipinos who played a part in defeating the evils of World War II," adds Horton who recently announced that he is planning to reintroduce the legislation.

In a press conference in Carson City, California, local officials and former Philippine Senator Nikki Coseteng joined Horton in denouncing Governor Schwarzenegger’s veto.

Coseteng urges Filipinos to show their support for this bill by writing to the governor. It is not enough that statistics show that Filipinos are among the top Asian population in America right now. These numbers should be translated into votes so American rulers know that they need to attend to the issues affecting the Filipino-American population.

TUESDAY – You can take the Filipino out of the Philippines; but you can’t take the Philippines out of the Filipino. Shining proof of this is Allan Pineda, better known as APL.DE.AP, one-fourth of the popular RnB/Hiphop group, The Black Eyed Peas.

They recently met with the press at the Hollywood and Highland complex for the industry premier of the music video of their newest single, The APL Song, which as actually an autobiography of Pineda.

"I wrote this song because I was born in the Philippines. Basically it talks about how I was adopted when I was 14, from the Philippines, was brought to America and now being able to go back and support my biological family," reveals Pineda.

The APL Song is the group’s first Tagalog single. It’s part of their third album "Elephunk" that has now reached multi-platinum worldwide. But Pineda says he did not expect the song to generate this much noise. He says he wrote the song with only one thing in mind.

"For me it was just a dedication to my brother ‘cause he committed suicide and I just wanted to release some of my emotions," he says. That explains the part of the song that goes: "I guess sometimes life’s stresses get you down. Oh, brother wish I could’ve helped you out."

Producer-Director Patricio Ginelsa also wanted to make an appeal for another group of Filipinos through the MTV.

"I was thinking, what if this was the only Filipino-American MTV ever made? I wanted to make sure that we included probably the most popular issue in our community which is the equity issue for our Filipino war veterans," says Ginelsa. Most Fil-vets leave this world without realizing victory in terms of this fight for equity.

On August 7, 2004, the lead veteran in the music video, Marion Ginelsa, passed away at the age of 83. Needless to say, he left a priceless legacy of struggle, courage and sacrifice for the community and part of that legacy now lives on in The APL Song. And that Pinoy pride is not lost on fellow Americans.

"I don’t think any other community would’ve embraced any of the other peas as much as the Filipinos have embraced Apl. And the culture you guys have, the culture that we’ve seen by going to the Philippines and the love that we’ve gotten has made us actually jealous of how loyal you guys are to your people," says Polo Molina, the Hispanic road manager of The Black Eyed Peas. "I just wanna say thank you. Your culture is beautiful."

Producers and supporters of the music video are also campaigning to get airtime for it in the US, particularly from MTV, VH1 and other music channels.

WEDNESDAY – From one Filipino pride to another – she’s known as "Asia’s Nightingale." No doubt, Lani Misalucha is an exceptional dancer. But now, she’s also shakin’ her booty with the Society of Seven on stage in Las Vegas.

"The Society of Seven with Lani Misalucha" opened last August 7, 2004 at the Jubilee Theater of Bally’s Hotel. The theater has a 12,000 seating capacity and is the fourth largest theater on the Vegas Strip.

Filipino fans used to seeing Lani – the diva will be shocked and surprised to see a different Lani in this concert. Favorites among the repertoire are Lani’s impersonation of Celine Dion (who is also running a nightly show at the Ceasar’s Palace Hotel, the most expensive in Vegas Strip history), Britney Spears, and Beyonce Knowles (complete with the signature dance move of the Bootylicious star).

"I really gotta dance. These guys dance so I have to keep up with them," says Lani of the Society of Seven, a famous showband in Hawaii. Singer Bert Nievera was once part of this group.

The show will run for six months, daily except Thursdays, at 3 p.m. If you’re scheduling a trip to Vegas, you might want to drop by and see for yourself why the group got a standing ovation on their opening day, immediately right after only their first song.

THURSDAY – A press conference was held to announce history-in-the-making as Philippine Concert King Martin Nievera and American recording artist Patti Austin topbilled the first-ever musical collaboration by a Filipino performer and American Artists on US soil.

A few days before the big show last August 21, 2004, Nievera and Austin let the media in on a little secret, they’ve already bonded onstage although they’ve only known each other for a short time.

"We’re just having a ball. And I’m only worried that I might not remember to sing because he keeps me laughing hysterically all the time," says Austin.

Fortunately for the fans who came out to watch the concert at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown LA, Austin did remember to sing. She sang her popular ballads – In My Life, Say You Love Me, It Might be You, If I Believed.

Nievera says the concert that was produced by Maxi-Media International, the 2003 Aliw Award Producer of the Year, was only a "mere sample" of better things to come for their fans and their music.

FRIDAY – Usually it’s rest day. The only day-off I get as a reporter.

SATURDAY – From Rustom Padilla’s skincare launch in Panorama City, California, to Lorin’s birthday party at the Santa Monica Pier – Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas’ one-year-old daughter, to her baby shower in Northridge, most "celebrity events" happen on this day, along with sports camps and some concerts.

SUNDAY – Galas, dinner parties, pageants – most of them "glitzy" Filipino-American events take place on Sundays. Nice hotel dinner, great dancing and entertainment. For reporters, covering events like these on a Sunday is a perfect ending to a busy week.