Ang Kalatas November 2018 Issue | Page 2

editorials AK NewsMagazine is published monthly and circulated in various parts of NSW. News articles, opinions, syndication and columnists do not necessarily reflect the views and opinion of the publisher and editors of AK NewsMag and are solely theirs. All editorial and advertising materials submitted by the advertisers are subject to the paper’s advertising and editorial standards and discretion. All rights reserved. PUBLISHER Kalatas Media MANAGING EDITOR Maria Phillips CONSULTING EDITOR Jaime K. Pimentel CORRESPONDENTS Alfredo Roces Violi Calvert Marco Selorio Marilie Bomediano Joseph Orbase COLUMNISTS Jim Paredes Jessie Icao Hank Jongen Jerone Balagtas Fe Watmore ADVERTISING/CIRCULATION Marilie Bomediano Editorial: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] PO Box 18, Quakers Hill 2763 Phone: (02) 8834 7366 • Mobile: 0450 073 591 Connect with us: facebook.com/angkalatas | +angkalatas | @angkalatas | youtube.com/user/KalatasAK4to7 Printed by: Spotpress Pty Ltd 24 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 Where to find us: BAGIT ORIENTAL, 6 Queen St., St. Marys BAHAY KUBO KARAOKE RESTAURANT, Shop 6&7 Oxford St., Ingleburn CHOWKING ORIENTAL FOODMART, Shop1/118 Church St, Parramatta FIESTA FILIPINO, 18 Main St., Blacktown FIL-OZ ASIAN MINIMART, Shop 7/215 MacFarlane St., Merrylands KAMAYAN FOOD PLUS, 55 Rooty Hill Rd. N., Rooty Hill KAPAMILYA GROCERIES & FODMART, 26 Walz Street, Rockdale KAPAMLIYA ASIAN GROCERY, 1/11 Patrick St., Campbelltown KAPITBAHAY ASIAN GROCERY, 24 Main St., Blacktown MANILA MART, 23 Rydale Rd., West Ryde MANILA SUNSET STORE, 3/43 Broad Arrow Rd., Narwee MASAGANA ASIAN GROCERIES, Shop 2/6 Nardoo St., Ingleburn MASAGANA ORIENTAL VARIETY STORE, 13 Charlotte St., Ashfield MELCHRISHEL BAKERY, 23 Rooty Hill Rd. N., Rooty Hill MR. WONG ORIENTAL STORE, Shop 1, 34 Hercules St., Ashfield MY KABABAYAN, 52-58 The Crescent, Fairfield NUEVA ECIJA ASIAN GROCERY, 42 Railway Pde., Granville PABICO FAST FOOD & ASIAN GROCERY, Shop 9 Westfield Mt. Druitt PINOY 'TO ATBP, 111 Oxford St., Bondi Junction PINOY GRILL 'N CHILL, 3a/3 Oxford Rd., Ingleburn SANGA SUPERMARKET, Shop 1/41-45 Ingleburn Rd., Ingleburn SHERBROOK STORE, 44 Rooty Hill Rd. S., Rooty Hill SIZLING FILLO RESTAURANT, 36 Railway Street, Lidcombe STARLIGHT BAKERY, 15 Hill End Rd., Doonside T & J ASIAN MINI MART, Rockdale Plaza Shopping Centre, Rockdale TAKKAM CAFE, 119 Oxford St., Bondi Junction TERESA'S SIOPAO & CATERING, 257 Doonside Cres., Doonside TFC (THE FUNKY CHICKEN), Westfield Shopping Centre, Mt. Druitt Got no time to go to the store? Subrscribe and get AK delivered to your maibox for only $30 for 12 issues. Email admin@ kalatas.com.au or call 0450073591 for more information. 02 November 2018 OCTOBER 2018 | AK NewsMagazine, Vol 9 No 1 2 SPECIAL MESSAGE from RAY WILLIAMS NSW Minister for Multiculturalism NSW Minister for Disability Services FOR the many members of our community who celebrate Christmas, there is nothing more exciting than the anticipation of the festive season. Pasko is a joyous time which is observed according to diverse traditions and customs in the Philippines. In NSW every member of our community can enjoy the full range of Filipino Pasko customs, traditions, artistry, culture and culinary delights during the many Pasko events held in our State. NSW is now home to over 180,000 EDITOR'S DESK people with Filipino ancestry with some 55 societies under the umbrella of the Philippine Community Council of NSW. The Filipino Australian community is a strong and vibrant component of our multicultural society as Minister for Multiculturalism, I am proud that this festive occasion has become an important celebration in our cultural calendar. Maligayang Pasko to all! And I thank the Filipino community of New South Wales for enriching our State, and wish everyone a festive Pasko season. Jaime k Pimentel Good work didn't matter THE deportation this month of Australian nun Sister Patricia Fox was an indictment on not only the Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte, his Government and the Catholic Church hierarchy but also on the Australian Government’s own department of immigration authorities. How grotesquely incredible it is that President Duterte would pick a fight on one frail nun who had been living in poverty looking after the welfare of communities and among some of the most deprived Filipinos far from the country’s prosperous sections of society for 27 years but would cower under a foreign power that has been caught land-grabbing from Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea. Sister Pat had been only one voice from a sea of Duterte Government’s critics. How grotesquely obcene it is that a foreign power can use its cashed-up government to influence and interfere in Philippine politics quite openly without one pip from President Duterte, in fact, with his express consent. The Philippines’ Catholic Bishops Conference, a powerful block that had been critical of the Duterte Government in the same way that Sister Pat had advocated for her flock, may not have pushed strong enough to have her stay to continue doing what the Governmenthad been elected to do for all Filipinos in the first place. And yes, the Australian Government has also lacked the will and courage to take up the good Sister Pat’s cause – even simply to show the rest of the world that Australians can put diplomacy to one side and be humane. So sorry about that, Sister Pat. TOM BAENA, Solicitor and former NSW Police officer Political fancy or reality FILING of certificates of candidacy for the 2019 Philippine elections have closed. We have seen siblings rally politically against siblings, grandchildren against grandparents, nephews and nieces against uncles and aunties, television celebrities against TRAPOs (traditional politicians). This is the fun aspect of the political landscape in the Philippines. Filipino Australians, however, have become disappointed in our local, State and Federal elections here in Australia because they are not as exciting as those in the Philippines. Thus, a number of Filipino Australians have gone back to the Philippines at this time of the year in order to participate in the elections over there. In the past, we had a few personalities from Sydney who went back to the Philippines and took part in the elections with disappointing results. The thing that we hope is that the Filipino voters become 'educated voters' and stop being lured by vote buying or celebrity-struck voters. Filipino Australians, on the other hand, have tended to focus a lot on Philippine politics but complacent about the Australian political system. What they seem to overlook is that Australia is where they have settled and call home, the place where their grandchildren and great-grand children see their future. Filipino-Australians should be attuned to and pay more attention to how Australians engage in politics so that, perhaps, we could influence Filipinos into turning towards the way more modern First World countries' employ political practices. www.kalatas.com.au