The APL Song

[AngryABCGirl]

From AngryAsianman.com:

"Just a reminder... fans of Black Eyed Peas' "Apl Song" can vote for the video to be on MTV's TRL. The goal is for the video to be number one on July 26. Read more on this effort here: http://kidheroes.net/news/news070104.htm

Why July 26? Watch the video (http://kidheroes.net/aplsongvideo.htm) for a better understanding of the underlying issue. July 26 will be the 63rd year anniversary of the induction of the Filipino military organizations to fight in WWII under the U.S. flag. On July 26, 1941, President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order calling members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army into the service of the United States Armed Forces of the Far East. Under this order, Filipinos were entitled to full veterans' benefits. More than 100,000 Filipinos volunteered for the Philippine Commonwealth Army and fought alongside the United States armed forces. Today, some of these veterans have yet to be acknowledged and yet to receive their full benefits. That ain't right. For more information, visit www.fullequitynow.com

Voting for the video is a small gesture to bring attention to a greater cause..."

I haven't got to watch the video myself yet, but I hear it's the number one song in the Phillippines. The chorus is in Tagalog so it'll probably be very difficult to have it get playtime in the US.

[hooligan]

Whether you can understand to tagalog or not, it's a great song. I haven't seen the video either, but I hear it highlights Pilipino veterans.

[AngryABCGirl]

I just heard the song-it's a pretty amazing piece of work, here are the lyrics:

[Chorus in Tagalog]
Lapit mga kaibigan at makinig kayo
Ako'y may dala-dalang, balita galing sa bayan ko
Nais kong ipamahagi ang mga kwento
Ang mga pangyayaring nagaganap
Sa lupang pinangako

[English Translation:]
(Come closer my friends and everyone listen
I brought news from my homeland
I'll tell you how we live and what goes on
From my beloved homeland.)

[Verse one, Apl.De.Ap]
Every place got a ghetto this is my version
Check it out...
Listen closely yo, I got a story to tell
A version of my ghetto where life felt for real
Some would call it hell but to me it was heaven
God gave me the grace, amazin' ways of living
How would you feel if you had to catch your meal?
Build a hut to live and to eat and chill in.
Having to pump the water outta the ground
The way we put it down utilizing what is around
Like land for farming, river for fishing
Everyone helpin' each other whenever they can
We makin' it happen, from nothin' to somethin'
That's how we be survivin' back in my homeland

[Chorus]

[Verse two, Apl.De.Ap]
Yo, its been a while but...
I been back home to my homeland, (check it out) to see what's going on
Man it feels good to be back at home
And it's been a decade, on the journey all alone
I was fourteen when I first left Philippines
I've been away half my life, but it felt like a day
To be next to my mom with her home cooked meal
Meant I felt complete, my emotions I feel!
Now life has changed for me in the U.S
But back at home man, life was a mess...
I guess sometimes life's stresses gets you down
On your knees, oh brother I wish I could have helped you out...

[Chorus]

[hooligan]

Can you hook me up with a place to watch the video? The link they have on their website is down.

You can always pirate it to me? ; )

[>:^|]

Under this order, Filipinos were entitled to full veterans' benefits. More than 100,000 Filipinos volunteered for the Philippine Commonwealth Army and fought alongside the United States armed forces. Today, some of these veterans have yet to be acknowledged and yet to receive their full benefits.

Anybody know what's going on with this legislation? The Rescission Act was a disgrace. I wrote to my senator but never got a response.

[hooligan]

Anybody know what's going on with this legislation? The Rescission Act was a disgrace. I wrote to my senator but never got a response.
I'm not sure, but I think my friend who works closely with the Pilipino veterans said that they're working on another piece of legislation? That's all I really know, I'll ask her this Friday.

[AngryABCGirl]

Can you hook me up with a place to watch the video? The link they have on their website is down.

You can always pirate it to me? ; )

Sorry, I was gonna ask you the same thing.

[Faithless]

Can you hook me up with a place to watch the video? The link they have on their website is down.

You can always pirate it to me? ; )

http://kidheroes.net/aplsong_musicvideo2.htm

Try either of the QuickTime links.

You just to keep in touch with our friends at AMW(D):
http://www.asianmediawatch.net/news.html

.
Anybody know what's going on with this legislation? The Rescission Act was a disgrace. I wrote to my senator but never got a response.
H.R. 109-302?

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquerytr/z?d109:HR00302:

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Since then, there's been a few talks by some congressmen on the issue.

.
From Asian Week, itself!

‘The Great Raid’ – POW Rescue Movie Opens (http://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=2ba123d94e7559d59bc92 7c8d917042e&this_category_id=169)

By Sam Chu Lin, Aug 26, 2005

As Miramax previews its new World War II motion picture The Great Raid, the true story about how Filipino guerillas helped rescue more than 500 American and British prisoners of war, the film is also a reminder of the drive to provide military benefits for Filipino veterans of that conflict.

John Vieira was at one of the screenings in Northern California. He wanted to learn more about his grandfather [Charles Mortimer].

“My grandfather was part of the Bataan Death March, and he was in Cabanatuan (Prison Camp),” Vieira remarked. “He was freed by the Army rangers. He died in 1957 of jungle rot and malaria … before I was born. It’s been very hard for my mom and my uncle to talk about it, so I came here to get a little more history.”

General Douglas MacArthur had fulfilled his promise of returning to the Philippine Islands. Victorious American troops soon discovered that retreating Japanese soldiers had massacred many prisoners. With great urgency, a small group of 121 elite rangers from the U.S. Army 6th Battalion was assigned to slip behind enemy lines, through 30 miles of Japanese-controlled territory, and to rescue the prisoners at Cabanatuan.

Director John Dahl says his own father was a World War II veteran serving in the Philippine Islands. “So many things could have gone wrong in that secretive march of theirs,” Dahl remarked. “Moving 120 people across 30 miles to get to the camp really required the complete cooperation of the Filipinos.”

More than 200-plus Japanese soldiers manned the camp, which was surrounded by flat land with no vegetation or trees to hide behind. Captain Bob Prince of Tacoma, Washington, now a retired apple distributor, says the Filipino guerillas and local residents provided much of the intelligence, help and support.

“We shot the guards out of the towers immediately,” he recounted. “We shot the locks off the gate and were inside so quickly, the Japanese guards had no chance to react effectively at all. They were wiped out in the first five or ten minutes.”

James Hildebrand of Orangevale, California, was one of the rescued POWs. He says the Filipino guerrillas covered two flanks protecting the Army Rangers. They fought off a Japanese regiment, helped to evacuate many of the sick prisoners –– many with water buffalo and carts, and made good their escape.

“The Filipino guerillas came from all parts of the Luzon, the Central Luzon area. They really put up a good fight with the Japanese soldiers. They didn’t lose a single one of them,” Hildebrand recounted.

“It reminds the American public again what transpired in the Philippines,” said Filipino veteran Franco Arcebal of Los Angeles, “but I hope something more than that should be shown.”

Arcebal is referring to bills pending in Congress that would provide benefits for Filipino veterans who served during World War II. They include: Senate Bill S-146, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of Senator Daniel Inouye [D-Hawai‘i] and HR-302 (introduced by Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.) or HR-170 (by Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.). Congressman Mike Honda (D-San Jose) has also endorsed this effort, although President Bush has thus far withheld his support.

Peping Baclig of Whittier, California, escaped the Bataan Death March and fought as a guerrilla. He became an American citizen in 1987, and is frustrated at the Washington, D.C. gridlock.

“I am happy that I’m an American,” he stated. “It’s so sarcastic and so ironic that you fight for something and you become a victim of what you’re fighting for.”

The movie itself concentrates on the rescue of the POWs, and only alludes to the torture and atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers.

Robert Loya, a Vietnam veteran, stated, “The movie was very realistic and close to what was described in the book Ghost Soldiers. It made me feel good as an American.”

“It was a hell of movie,” Mike Nordling stated. “It was suspenseful, although you already knew the outcome. I thought it was very well done.”