News – SF News Feed

Top Filipino-American Campaign Official Resigns Amidst Controversy

Jeanne Jones February 10, 2017

SAN DIEGO (10/8)- San Diego real estate developer and founder of the National Federation of Filipino-American Republicans (NFFAR) resigned from his post and withdrew his endorsement of presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) amidst an air of speculation and confusion. In a written statement, Diaz stated, “I am resigning as Chairman of NFFAR. It was a hard decision on my part. However, I believe that I have to do it because of what has been happening in the McCain campaign… I endorsed McCain before the California primary believing that he was the right man for the job. I was wrong. His selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate and his decision a few days ago to resort to personal attacks on Obama’s character and integrity run counter to my personal beliefs and core values. I have lost my respect for McCain and I believe that a McCain/Palin administration would only worsen the economic situation in the country”

Part of his the reason for sudden resignation could also be found at his website (see:www.perryscope.org ) wherein he posted (10/3) what is believed to be a series of policy disagreements between Diaz and specifically against Sarah Palin offer insight into the resignation.

In regards to the environment Diaz pointed out that, “Sarah Palin falsely claimed that she was the first governor to form a climate change subcabinet, when at least 28 states had already taken action”. Furthermore he pointed out that, “Sarah Palin said “I don’t want to argue about the causes” for global warming, when she has clearly taken the position that she doesn’t not believe it is man-made”.

In regards to the issue of Medicare reform, Diaz posted one piece stating, “In her closing remarks at the vice-presidential debate Thursday night, Ms. Palin referred earnestly, if loosely, to a quote from Ronald Reagan. He had warned that if Americans weren’t vigilant in protecting their freedom, they would find themselves spending their “sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was like in America when men were free.” What Ms. Palin didn’t say was that the menace to freedom that Reagan was talking about was Medicare. As the historian Robert Dallek has pointed out, Reagan “saw Medicare as the advance wave of socialism, which would ‘invade every area of freedom in this country”. Furthermore, “Palin says taxes wouldn’t go up under the McCain health care plan, a fact even his own campaign has acknowledged isn’t true”. Also it is posted, “Palin claimed Obama’s health plan is “government run” which has been widely debunked as a “canard”…”

In regards to the War on Terror, Diaz stated, “Palin repeated what the AP called the “highly misleading” attack that Obama opposed funding for the troops, and Factcheck.org notes that the same methodology would lead to the same conclusion for McCain”. In regards to the recent “surge”, Diaz states “Palin said that [McKiernan] did not say a surge wouldn’t work in Afghanistan, when just yesterday he said “The word I don’t use for Afghanistan is ’surge,’ ” McKiernan stressed, saying that what is required is a “sustained commitment” to a counterinsurgency effort that could last many years and would ultimately require a political, not military, solution…” Another point of contention was the issue of civilian deaths in Iraq, where, “Sarah Palin said “Obama had said that all we’re doing in Afghanistan is air raiding villages and killing civilians and such a reckless, reckless comment and untrue comment again hurts our cause. That’s not what we are doing there.” Unfortunately, the Associated Press says that Obama was right in discussing a critically important point about avoiding civilian casualties”.

The harshest complaints are leveled regarding the McCain /Palin campaign in regards to the economy. In regards to partisanship, Diaz stated, “Palin said McCain is “known for putting partisan politics aside to just get the job done,” but he has voted with Bush 90% of the time in the Senate and bragged about his support for Bush on important issues”. Diaz also pointed out that in regards to taxes, “Palin repeated the attack that Obama voted for higher taxes 94 times, which the New York Times says is “false,” CNN says is “Misleading,” and FactCheck.orgsays is “inflated”. As for the economy, “Palin tried to say “John McCain saying our economy was strong” was taken out of context, but McCain has used the phrase “The Fundamentals Of The Economy Are Strong” at least 16 times this year…”

While it is uncertain what will happen next for the real-estate developer. It is fairly certain that this sudden change of opinion will have a drastic effect on the presidential election, leaving the Republicans with less than 4 weeks to select a new community to draw from the Filipino-American community.

-Jose Ricardo G. Bondoc

Study Confirms Californians Poisoned with Toxic Fire Retardants

Jeanne Jones February 1, 2017

Leno urges Governor to take immediate action to stop the contamination of California homes

SAN FRANCISCO, CA— Highlighting a recent study showing that Californians have twice as much toxic halogenated fire retardants in our blood than the national average, Assemblyman Mark Leno urged the Governor today to take immediate action to stop the addition of these chemicals to furniture and baby products sold in California. The findings, published in the academic journal Environmental Science and Technology on Wednesday points to California’s obscure furniture flammability regulation, Technical Bulletin (TB) 117 as the cause.

“This report confirms our worst fears about the chemical disaster in virtually every home in California,” said Assemblyman Leno. “TB 117 is poisoning our homes, our kids, and our mother’s milk with toxic fire retardants that cause thyroid hormone disruptions and damage the developing reproductive and nervous systems in infants and children. I am urging the Governor to do everything in his power to stop it.”

The study, conducted by the Silent Spring Institute, UC Berkeley, and Harvard University, also found that dust in California homes is contaminated with the now banned halogenated fire retardant penta-BDE at 4 to 10 times the levels measured nationally and 200 times more than in Europe. It can also be found in “nearly every species across the globe.”

Assemblyman Leno, along with advocates at Friends of the Earth, Making Our Milk Safe (MOMS), and firefighters have been fighting for the last two years to replace TB 117, a 1970’s era flammability standard responsible for the use of toxic fire retardants in baby products and furniture. Leno’s AB 706, which failed passage under pressure from the chemical industry, would have replaced TB 117 with a new cigarette ignition resistance standard proposed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, providing superior fire safety while eliminating toxic exposure.

“The Governor should order the immediate suspension of TB 117, require the Bureau to enforce the current ban on penta-BDE in imported furniture, accelerate the development of an alternatives assessment process in the Green Chemistry Initiative, and use alternatives assessment to look first at halogenated fire retardants found in furniture,” said Leno.

Virtually every Californian tested has been found to have fire retardants stored in their bodies, with babies showing the highest levels. Halogenated fire retardants pass from mothers’ bodies to children during pregnancy and through breast milk. Levels of these chemicals have increased 40-fold in human breast milk since the 1970s.

This increase coincides with the expanded use of fire retardants in order to comply with California’s TB 117. Previous studies have shown that elevated cancer rates among firefighters compared with the general population, likely result from workplace exposure to carcinogens like dioxins and furans, which are formed when PBDE fire retardants burn.

ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICAN HEALTH FORUM STATEMENT ON NEW VACCINE REQUIREMENTS FOR IMMIGRANTS

Jeanne Jones January 30, 2017

San Francisco, CA – The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires applicants who seek permanent residency (green card) or adjust their current status to meet vaccination requirements on a broad range of vaccine- preventable diseases. Effective July 1, 2008, the USCIS has added five new vaccines as recommended by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices to the Medical Admissibility Review requirements. Applicants will be required to have the following age-appropriate additional vaccinations: Rotavirus (gastroenteritis) Hepatitis A, Meningococcal (meningitis), Human papillomavirus (cervical cancer) and Zoster (shingles).

While APIAHF supports the adoption and use of vaccinations that have been proven to be effective in preventing unnecessary disease, APIAHF is also concerned about assuring that the vaccines are accessible to all and that immigrants are not unduly burdened. APIAHF acknowledges the potential benefit of the HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer, but also recognizes that specific concerns have been raised about the vaccine’s effectiveness. APIAHF is concerned about what appears to be inadequate involvement in and transparency about the process regarding decisions about additional vaccine requirements. We also are concerned about inadequate outreach, education, and dissemination of information to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities who are affected by the requirements.

Cervical cancer is a major concern to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, particularly for specific ethnic subgroups. Screening remains the most effective way to prevent cervical cancer and immigrant communities have low rates. APIAHF supports increased funding for federal programs such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) which supports, among others, community driven programs to increase the rates of cervical cancer screening for Vietnamese women, who have five times the rate of cervical cancer as White women.

Supervisorial Candidate Accuses Chronicle of Ignoring Mission-Excelsior

Jeanne Jones January 10, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO (10/5)- In a controversial move, Myrna V. Lim has accused the local San Francisco Chronicle, of ignoring the Mission-Excelsior District. In a press statement made by the candidate, Lim stated, “I have been receiving phone calls and emails from my supporters in District 11 expressing disappointment in your coverage of our Supervisor race”. Furthermore, accusations of sexism and ethnic insensitivity were launched as she noted, “I am the only Asian and one of two women in a field of eight candidates, yet your reporter, Wyatt Buchanan, deliberately excluded me from his story. His insinuation that I had not garnered enough in contributions and endorsements to be considered by your paper is simply false, and casts great doubt about your journalistic objectivity and integrity for both my supporters and myself… When I ran against incumbent Gerardo Sandoval in 2004, I garnered 42% of the votes. This year I am proud to be the leading candidate according to several polls. My support reflects the multi-cultural diversity of District 11: 46% Filipino and Chinese, 25% Latino, 15% Caucasian, 8% African American”

The article stated that misperceptions of the district were perpetuated by the newspaper, stating, “Your articles featured four men who are City Hall political insiders, thereby manipulating public perception, creating the illusion that those were the only candidates worth considering. I have raised more than $50,000 and attach a list of my supporters, so I should have been included even according to your stated standards. I am not relying on the taxpayers to publicly finance my campaign…”

Stating her biography, Lim said, “I am the only candidate who actually grew up in the district, and has served the district all my adult life. My father, Rafael Lim, a former District Attorney in the Philippines, moved to the Excelsior in 1969, and worked as a janitor for two years in order to bring his family to America for a better life. We bought our house in the District in 1976. My family operated the old Granada Theatre and the old Apollo Theatre. My brothers went to Balboa High School. My family attends masses at the Epiphany, Corpus Christi and St. Emydius Churches. My niece attends first grade at Epiphany School. One of my nieces graduated from the Leadership School on Seneca Street. Most of my friends and supporters are natives of District 11, include Walter Franco who has been operating the Ricca Café on Mission Street and Onondaga Street for 40 years. Some of my friends are retired teachers from Balboa High School”.

Candidate Lim, who has attracted the endorsements of Major General Antonio Taguba, Abu Ghraib Report, Iraq; San Francisco Police Officers Association; National Women’s Political Caucus; and Filipino American Caucus, California Democratic Party said to the editorial staff of the newspaper, “Despite your editorials to the contrary, your blatant discrimination serves to perpetuate the status quo at City Hall, to the detriment of the good people in my district who deserve better…”