HAMILTON LIBR A RY UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII MANOA CAMPUS HONOLULU HI 96822 PAID Honolulu, HI H aw aii Filipino N ew s PERMIT No. 205 A Newspaper fo r “ the F ilip in o F amily VOL. 1 NO. 23 HONOLULU, HAWAII FE B R U A R Y 1, 1978 Oahu Filipino Jaycees Distinguished Awards ’77 By PEPI NUEVA Contributing (Editor The Oahu Filipino Jaycees present­ ed their Distinguished Service Awards The Awardees: for 1977 to a newspaper editor/pub- J u a n C . D i o n i s i o lisher, an educator, a small businessman, and a public Outstanding Community Service health nurse, at a banquet held at Shirley Libarios Ala Moana Banquet Hall, Jan. 20th. Outstanding Educator The Distinguished Service Awards arc presented yearly to Filipinos who Priscilla Bratland have excelled in their field of endeavor and have worked for the enrichment Outstanding Professional Of the Filipino community. This was Noly Hipolito the third year of the awards. Outstanding Small Businessman - Juan C. Dionisio, retired Philip­ pine ambassador, and now editor and G e o r g e R a g a z a publisher of HAWAII FILIPINO NEWS who was cited as Outstanding Outstanding Artist Filipino in Community Service; - George Ragaza, dancer - Out­ standing Small Businesswoman); Mrs. standing Artist; Priscilla Jucutan and Eleuteria (Teri) - Noly Hipolito Outstanding Sabado Yanai (Educator); Leonor Ta- Small Businessman; and moria (Professional). - Priscilla Bratland, public health The awards were presented by the nurse — Outstanding Professional. Director of Labor & Industrial Rela­ tions, Dr. Joshua Agsalud, who repre­ Among others nominated for the THE AW ARDEES — From Left: George Ragaza, Priscilla Bratland, Juan C. sented Governor George R. Ariyoshi. awards were: Gene Albano and Fran- Dionisio, Shirley Libarios and Noly Hipolito. cisca Tamon (Community Service); Paul Fasi represented his uncle, May S T ILL A QUEEN — Gloria Romero, Queen of Philippine Francisco “ Kit” Samson (Outstanding F rank Fasi. ’60’s, still looks a movie queen. Artist); Carmencita Valentino (Out-— Guest speaker Geminiano Q. (Toy) Arre Jr., deputy director of JUAN C. DIONISIO finance. City & County of Honolulu. Outstanding Community Service. Le g a l b a rrie rs where they were The judges were Du Sayles and The trauma of tire F ilipino expe- not supposed to be - imposed by Filipinaina nurses case dism issed Harold J . K. Iseke, general manager rience in the United States hit 16- hostile administrators who took advan- and manager, respectively, of Mike year old Juan C. Dionisio of Aklan tage of confusion caused by the McCormack Realtors, and Henry (then Capiz, province, when he landed vaguely-defined status of the Filipino Combined news services try turned into a nightmare." in San Franciso in December 1926 in America: he Was not a Citizen but Robinson said his decision “was not Chang, director, Hawaii Jaycees. in search of his father who had left neither w a s h e a n because his arrived at quickly or easily. It required The officers of the O FJ are; Fortu- DETROIT, Feb. 1 — The govern­ 16 years earlier for the States and had country belonged to the United States rereading all of- the factual tesimony nato Elizaga, M. D., president; Emil ment yesterday dropped all charges not been heard from for a decade and he owed allegiance to it and yet Quinto, executive vice-pres.; Rufo La- against two, Filipina nurses who were concerning the victims who would laws against aliens were applied against convicted of poisoning hospital pa­ be the primary subject of attention grosa, asst, exec, v-p; Oscar Paez, Jr He did find his father, finally, in him. He could not own his own home tients but later granted a new trial. AIA, external vice-pres.; Gil Rena- Seattle and with his help, Dionisio or marry a Caucasian. He could not In a 20-page court memorandum, “ It also required review of the randa, internal v-p; Jose C. de Leon, resumed his schooling, finishing high good hotels o U. S. Attorney James Robinson said transcript of closing arguments and M. D., sec.; and Elijah B. Thonas, school and later the University of good restaurants, and Dionisio recalls there was little chance of a guilty further consultations with the chief treas. Washington where he studied English that whenever he travelled up and verdict in a second trial of Filipina assistant, chief of the Criminal Divi­ Board of Directors: Steve Nacua, and Journalism, supporting himself by down the West Coast he always car­ Narciso, 31, and Leonora Perez, sion and the assistants who tried the Jim Hoban, Bert Yumo), Chato Sin- ried a copy of a Filipino newspaper fuego, Bobby Viggayan and Rex Ai- working as a “schoolboy” and with 33. because in it he would find advertise- “After giving careful consideration Robinson also cited “ the pervasive danese. summer jobs in the Alaskan salmon ments of one or two hotels" to the many important factors involv­ public doubt and concern as the de­ The Distinguished Awards commit- canneries. In college he supplemented taurants in the cities and towns he ed,” Robinson said, “ the United States fendants’ guilt.” tee was composed of Ben Beniga as his meager income by writing for the attorney has decided that he should “ Judge Pratt’s decision to grant a chairman, and Lou Estrella, Bernie Manila magazines, the FR E E PRESS, seek a dismissal of the case rather with expressions of Matute, Rey Grauly, Darrel Bareng, GRAPHIC, and PHILIPPINE MAG- relief in the public press. The first chato Sinfuego, Rufo Lagrosa and AZINE. than proceed with a new trial. ” In Seattle as a student he became, trial was described as ‘inherently Rex Aldanese, members. The nurses were convicted by a U. S. JUDGE PHILIP PRATT president of the Filipino community Agapito of Radio K-59 was M. C. Dionisio first experienced what it federal jury on July 13, 1977, on five unsatisfying’ and as producing was to be a Filipino in the white Ame­ association which tried to fight for ‘very questionable result. ’ counts of non-fatal poisoning and-one the first place.” rica of the ’20’s when on his first day at the rights of the Filipinos, and when Such expression of public skepti­ count of conspiracy stemming from The women said they planned to The Commission on the celebra- the University, he was refused service he married and moved to Stockton, cism of Hie process by which persons series of breathing failures among take long vacations and primarily tion of the 75th anniversary of Fi- in the soda fountain of the Univer- California in 1936, he started THE are accorded due process in our patients at the Veterans Administra- wanted to forget the ordeal that be- lipino immigration to Hawaii will FILIPINO PIONEER, a forthnightly criminal justice system are trouble and tion Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich, gan nearly two years ago with their meet with the public at the New tabloid to give voice to the struggle bode ill for public confidence in our during the summer of 1975. arrests by FBI agents. State Building, Room 233, 1151 of his' people (It was a two-staffer Government prosecutors attempted institutions.” ‘This is a trauma for us, ” Narciso Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, be- member. “ We don’t serve Filipinos paper: he and his wife Ann)- In 1939 to prove that the nurses injected Pa- s a id “ Everything was very hard to tween 10 and 12 Noon, on Feb. here,” the waitress told him. He next he was among those who organized vulon, a powerful muscle relaxant take" Election code 4th for the purpose of gathering the Filipino Agricultural Laborers’ drug, into patientsThom intravenous tubes. as Thomas C .C. OO’Brien, 'Brien a defense at- “ inputs” for the celebration pro­ Association and published and edited In all, than 50 breathing failures torney, praised Robinson for “ a very A new apportionment of seals in grams. told by the barber across the“ the union’s newspaper, the PH IL­ during July and Au g u s t , the interim Batasang Pambansa occurred during July and August, thoughtful opinion. He brought to All persons who have ideas on street from the campus; “We do not IPPINE JOURNAL. He was the (national Assembly) which will 1975 - a dozen of them fatal. this decision a fair amount of intel­ the subject are urged to attend. cut Filipino hair here; go to China­ reflect a truly representative U. S. District Judge Philip Pratt, ligence and wisdom.” For further information, please legislature is the main feature of town.” It was a common experience (Please turn to page 8) who presided over the three-month “ It may have been accidental contact Harvey Buenconsejo, Office of the Filipino immigrants to this coincidental that the people "who the proposed omnibus election code, of Congressman Daniel Akaka, trial, set aside the guilty verdicts on country during those times to be known henceforth as the 1978 phone 546-8952. Dec. 19, 1977, citing “ overwhelming selected (the nurses) may prejudice to the defendants arising have been in a Position t0 defend Electoral Law. from the government’s persistent mis- themselves the way American citi- conduct” ' in pursuing its two-year zens would have, he said. They investigation. d i d n’t know our way. They didn’t Ja p a n gives $93 million loan to R P The nurses, along with their fam­ know what their rights were. ilies, friends and attorneys, appeared at a news conference in Ann Arbor “ They were government employ- THE OVERSEAS Economic Co- a key role in the integrated development they were encouraged to co- operation Fund of Japan extended of Cagayan Valley by die construction of the rainy season of 1979.