Posted by toto on October 20, 2000 at 13:16:05:
National Federation of Filipino Americans (NaFFAA)
1444 N Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20005-2814
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jon
Melegrito
October 19, 2000 Tel.
202.986.9330
Filipino Americans Mobilize to Get Out The Vote
With only a few days left before the national elections, Filipino
Americans across the country are organizing get-out-the-vote campaigns
to
ensure that their voices are heard, loud and clear.
The National Federation of Filipino American Associations(NaFFAA),
fresh
from a successful national congress in Las Vegas, NV., is leading a
nationwide effort inorder to, as national Vice Chair Gloria T. Caoile
puts
it, 'make our power count.'
With that theme, speakers at the 4th annual meeting urged
community
leaders to go back to their neighborhoods and talk to their families
and
friends about the importance of voting.
Called 'FilVOTE 2000,' this voter mobilization project has
launched local
campaigns in Seattle, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami,
Washington
DC. Over the last six months, NaFFAA partnered with other Asian
Pacific
American groups, as well as labor organizations like the American
Federation
of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), to train community
leaders
to conduct voter registration and voter education drives.
Recognizing the importance of the youth vote, NaFFAA is also
working with
various Filipino American student organizations in various campuses
across
the country. These groups include Samahang Pilipino of UCLA, Pilipino
Cultural Society of George Washington University, Filipino Student
Association of the University of Florida, Philippine Student
Association of
the University of Illinois in Urbana, Penn Philippine Association of
the
University of Pennsylvania, and the Organization of Young Filipino
Americans
at the University of Virginia.
'There is an assumption out there that young people do not vote,'
said
FilVOTE National Coordinator Joe Montano. 'But our sense is, young
people
will go out and do their civic duty if they know that the issues in
this
election will directly affect them.'
Among the issues Montano believes resonate among young people are
education, affirmative action, and health care. He is also convinced
that
'the youth today are just as strongly committed to civil rights
issues, such
as hate crimes, racial profiling, and full equity for Filipino World
War II
veterans.'
Valerie Ann Garcia, a law student at the University of Illinois,
is
concerned that 'there's too much at stake in this election to be
indifferent.' She cited the recent rash of hate crimes against Asian
Americans like Joseph Ileto. 'This is a compelling reason why we
should
speak out against this rising trend of intolerance and xenophobia,'
she said.
To drive home this point, FilVOTE will make a strong presence at
the
upcoming conference of the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking
Dialogue
(FIND) which will be held in the campus of George Mason University on
October
27-29. 'Our goal is to recruit as many student volunteers to not only
go out
to the polls themselves but to staff phone banks, knock on doors and
assist
the elderly and the disabled to cast their votes,' said Montano.
'We expect to mobilize at least 3,000 students from various
campuses to
play an active role in this election,' he added.
Rozita Lee, FilVOTE coordinator in Las Vegas, is enthused by the
community's response in a region that has seen the Asian Pacific
American
population increase dramatically by 50% in the last 10 years. 'We are
actively coordinating our efforts in coalition with other APA,
Hispanic
American and African American organizations,' she said. She also
noted
strong partnerships with labor organizations like the Asian Pacific
American
Labor Alliance and local AFSCME affiliate groups.
In encouraging grassroots organizations across the country to
'hook up
with these organized efforts in your local communities,' Caoile
reiterated
NaFFAA's call to 'make your one vote make a difference for your family
and
for our community.'
For more information about FilVOTE 2000, call Joe Montano at
202.986.9330
or email info@naffaa.org
FILVOTE 2000 Contact Information:
Las Vegas: Rozita Lee, Tel. 702. ,email: rozitalee@aol.com
Seattle : Ellen Abellera
San Diego: Joann Fields, Tel. 619.267.0905, email:
fieldssix@hotmail.com
Los Angeles: Susan Maquindang, Tel. 213.487.9804, Email:
fasgi@eaerthlink.net
Miami: Joy Bruce, Tel. 305.868.6883 or email: joybruce@aol.com
Washington, D.C.: Ben DeGuzman, 202.296.2300, Email:
bdeguzman@hotmail.com
CAMPUS CONTACTS:
Filipino Students Association, Georgia State University: Patrick
Moday,
Email: mopokaiser@aol.com
Filipino Students Association, University of Florida: R. Adriel
Mercado
Email: Adrielflip@aol.com
International Filipino Association, New York University: Alvin Maala
Email: abm210@stern.nyu.edu
Kababayan, UC-Irvine: Elaine Dolalas
Email: uccloud9@hotmail.com
Liga Filipina, Mt. Holyoke College: April Siruno
Email: amsiruno@mtholyoke.edu
Organization of Young Filipino Americans, University of Virginia:
Darrell
Alinea
Email: dna5e@virginia.edu
Pacific Islander SouthEast Asian Students, Amherst College: Jannah
Manansala
Email: jvmanansala@amherst.edu
Penn Philippine Association, University of Pennsylvania: Tristan Nery
Tnery@wharton.upenn.edu
Philippine Cultural Society, The George Washington University: Maia
Ermita
Email: himaia@gwu.edu
Philippine Student Association, University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana:
Jennifer Giron, EmaiL: jlgiron@uiuc.edu
Samahang Pilipino, UC-Los Angeles: Merrick Pascual
Email: mpascual@ucla.edu