Celestino Almeda's guest appearances

Celestino Almeda

Inquirer.net USA

Emil Amok's Takeout from Emil Guillermo Media

Eddie Huang

Jennifer Lee

Ed Gor

Stephen Miller

Matt Holmes

Pete Hamill

B.D. Wong

Janet Napolitano

Emil Guillermo

Deepa Iyer

Jenn Fang

Karthick Ramakrishnan

Helen Zia

Pawan Dhingra

Debbie Lum

OwlTail

Emil Guillermo Inquirer.net PODCAST –Fiiipino WWII Vet continues fight for equity pay says, “I have the records!” Dateline: Maryland, USA On June 8, Filipino WWII Vet Celestino Almeda officially turns 100. And every day he’s ready for a fight. If you think the issue of  Filipino WWII veterans’ equity pay was over, you are sadly mistaken. For Almeda, it’s practically become his personal Bataan Death March. Only this time it’s  against the U.S.  bureauracy. Almeda is one of the last of the living vets appealing for his rights to equity pay. In 2009, President Obama finally kept the promise of pay and benefits to the vets who were denied what was due them by the Rescission Act in 1946. Nearly 20,000 veterans have been granted more than $220 milion. The payouts were in a lump sum payment of $15,000 to Filipino veterans living in the U.S., and $9,000 for those still in the Philippines But the VA has also rejected close to 24,000 cases.  There's about $56 million left in the pot. But that doesn't mean the VA is willingly giving it out, at least not to Almeda. When I visited Almeda last month, he told the Inquirer podcast that  he keeps fighting because he has all the documents that show he was in the United States Armed Forces of the Far East as a member of the Philippine Army. He believes his still battling because the U.S. “cannot admit it made mistakes.” The denial may be due to Almeda being linked to a particular commanding officer who was under investigation. U.S. Army declassified documents show that there was broad concern over the practice of selling military paperwork to Filipinos, thus inflating the number who could claim to be guerrillas. But Almeda said he made his application for equity pay not as a guerrilla but  as a member of the USAFFE. He has no doubt he served. “I gambled my youthful years in service to my country, which was a  territory of the United States,” Almeda said. In the podcast, he recalls his first day of service, and how he attempted to recruit guerrillas unsuccessfully. Almeda describes what life was like in  a Japanese-occupied Manila during WWII. He doesn’t forget. Almeda says the appeal is still on. His documents have actually been good enough to grant him citizenship in 1990. And he was even able to obtain a  VA medical card, as well. But he doesn’t want to give up the fight for the lump sum, even though he admits, it’s not about the money. “What is $15,000 these days nothing. And yet the Veterans Administration make it so hard to for me to be recognized. And I was thinking, is America really to stingy to release $15.000  to an old man who has served? I don’t know…I’ve done my part.” Hear more in this exclusive Emil Guillermo Media/Philippine Inquirer podcast. Inquirer USA columnist Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator based in California. Contact him at  www.amok.com. Read more at www.inquirer.net

Emil Guillermo <a href="http://Inquirer.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inquirer.net</a> PODCAST –Fiiipino WWII Vet continues fight for equity pay says, “I have the records!” Dateline: Maryland, USA On June 8, Filipino WWII Vet Celestino Almeda officially turns 100. And every day he’s ready for a fight. If you think the issue of  Filipino WWII veterans’ equity pay was over, you are sadly mistaken. For Almeda, it’s practically become his personal Bataan Death March. Only this time it’s  against the U.S.  bureauracy. Almeda is one of the last of the living vets appealing for his rights to equity pay. In 2009, President Obama finally kept the promise of pay and benefits to the vets who were denied what was due them by the Rescission Act in 1946. Nearly 20,000 veterans have been granted more than $220 milion. The payouts were in a lump sum payment of $15,000 to Filipino veterans living in the U.S., and $9,000 for those still in the Philippines But the VA has also rejected close to 24,000 cases.  There's about $56 million left in the pot. But that doesn't mean the VA is willingly giving it out, at least not to Almeda. When I visited Almeda last month, he told the Inquirer podcast that  he keeps fighting because he has all the documents that show he was in the United States Armed Forces of the Far East as a member of the Philippine Army. He believes his still battling because the U.S. “cannot admit it made mistakes.” The denial may be due to Almeda being linked to a particular commanding officer who was under investigation. U.S. Army declassified documents show that there was broad concern over the practice of selling military paperwork to Filipinos, thus inflating the number who could claim to be guerrillas. But Almeda said he made his application for equity pay not as a guerrilla but  as a member of the USAFFE. He has no doubt he served. “I gambled my youthful years in service to my country, which was a  territory of the United States,” Almeda said. In the podcast, he recalls his first day of service, and how he attempted to recruit guerrillas unsuccessfully. Almeda describes what life was like in  a Japanese-occupied Manila during WWII. He doesn’t forget. Almeda says the appeal is still on. His documents have actually been good enough to grant him citizenship in 1990. And he was even able to obtain a  VA medical card, as well. But he doesn’t want to give up the fight for the lump sum, even though he admits, it’s not about the money. “What is $15,000 these days nothing. And yet the Veterans Administration make it so hard to for me to be recognized. And I was thinking, is America really to stingy to release $15.000  to an old man who has served? I don’t know…I’ve done my part.” Hear more in this exclusive Emil Guillermo Media/Philippine Inquirer podcast. Inquirer USA columnist Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator based in California. Contact him at <a href="http://www.amok.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> www.amok.com</a>. Read more at <a href="http://www.inquirer.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.inquirer.net</a>

Ep.1--For 100th Birthday,Filipino WW2 Vet Celestino Almeda wishes for Equity.

Theo Gonzalves

Show log  Emil Amok’s Takeout Ep. 15 :00  Emil’s opening rap 1:46 San Diego Fringe Festival and SF Marsh shows 2:30 Coming up intros of top stories 5:05 What made me go amok this week 6:25 Martial Law in the Philippines? Oh, just “Partial Martial”? 18:12 Intro Celestino Almeda, the 100-year old  Filipino WW2 Vet still Fighting for his equity pay 24:12 Interview with Almeda 42:28 Intro and interview with Association of Asian American Studies President-elect Theo Gonzalves, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. 1:30:00 MY NBA FINALS PICK ----  Emil Guillermo: Emil Amok's Takeout Podcast - No rest on Memorial Day for a WWII Filipino Vet; and a conversation with AAAS President-elect Theo Gonzalves on APAHM May 26, 2017 7:36 PM  Memorial Day always winds up the annual observation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  And what better way to remember the one story (along with the Japanese American Internment) that lingers as the moral compass of the community.  For that reason, this Memorial Day will be a special one for Filipino WWII Veteran Celestino Almeda.  Despite many vets seeing an equity pay windfall in 2009, a handful like Almeda are still in appeals.  His fight for justice with the U.S. government has been the bureaucratic version of the Bataan Death March.    hat's no disrespect to the survivors of that historic event 75 years ago.  Almeda certainly will remember deceased friends like retired U.S. Air Force Major Jesse Baltazar, a former POW who survived the Bataan Death March in 1942, and died just last year at age 96.    Baltazar often accompanied Almeda, fighting side by side in the latter's bureaucratic battle with the VA over equity pay.    Almeda was a young soldier in the Philippine Army reserve, when he answered the call of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to protect the Philippines with the U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East. The added lure was full benefits as a soldier, including U.S. citizenship.    As you'll hear in my interview with him on Emil Amok's Takeout, Almeda, the reservist, was made active for a year.   He was then made inactive when Gen. MacArthur retreated to Australia as the Japanese took over Manila.  Almeda has official Philippine Army documents signed by U.S. officers to document all that. What he doesn't have is the record that he served in the guerrilla forces, which Almeda says were only verbal orders.  Once the war was over, he was made active again and served side-by-side Americans.  There would be no problem until President Truman signed the Rescission Act of 1946. which stripped the Filipino veterans of any right to the benefits that had been promised for their service.  Ever since then--for more than 70 years--Filipinos like Almeda have been fighting piecemeal for a  restoral of all the benefits due them.    Almeda's service has been good enough to help get him U.S. citizenship in 1990. He's even been given a VA card for medical benefits.   But it wasn't until President Obama in 2009 finally came through with a lump sum payment of $15,000 to Filipino veterans living in the U.S., and $9,000 for those still in the Philippines, that Almeda found himself in the bureaucratic battle of his life.  The VA has approved more than nearly 19,000 cases, according to its website. The payout has been more than $220 million.  But it's also rejected close to 24,000 cases.   There's about $56 million left in the pot.  But that doesn't mean the VA is willingly giving it out, at least not to Almeda.  The VA wouldn't honor his Philippine Army documents, though he has kept the originals in pristine condition. He's still currently in appeal, but in the meantime, he's taken to public protests like one last year when Robert McDonald, the VA Secretary under Obama appeared in public. In the Q&amp;A part of the program, Almeda tried to appeal to McDonald but had his mic turned off.  MacDonald's reaction got a stern rebuke from retired General Antonio Taguba, the general who led the investigation into Abu Ghraib.   Taguba additionally pointed out that updates to the law--PL 111-5, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation)--directed the Secretary of VA to consider all forms of evidence of service and not just those originally considered.   "This amendment has not been fully executed by the VA," Taguba complained to Mc Donald. Now a year later, McDonald's out, a new VA head is in, and Almeda is still fighting for justice, seemingly locked in the Bataan Death March of appeals, hoping to get approved for his lump sum before he turns 100.  It's Memorial Day, but his taste for justice has not died.  Listen to him tell his story on Emil Amok's Takeout. Days before his 100th birthday, Almeda's still got a lot of fight left.   AAAS President-elect Theo Gonzalves on the relevance of Asian American Studies today On my recent trip to Washington, DC, I was able to talk to an old friend, Theo Gonzalves of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the president-elect of the Association for Asian American Studies.  What are they doing? How has Asian American Studies stayed relevant? How valuable is the AAS degree?  Use the fast forward and listen to Gonzalves, where he thinks Asian American Studies is going, and the importance of APAHM.   And if you want to read my Emil Amok column on Martial Law  https://usa.inquirer.net/4026/martial-law-not-needed-can-stop-dutertes-destiny   Contact Emil at http://www.aaldef.org/blog, the site of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.  If you like what you see, consider clicking the "DONATE" button.  AALDEF is a 501 C3 and your contribution is tax-deductible.  Give us your feedback there, or at www.amok.com Leave a voice message on Speakpipe.  We might use it in a future show. Consider subscribing for free on iTunes, where you can rate and review. You'll also find us on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.    BIO Emil Guillermo wrote for almost 15 years his "Amok" column for AsianWeek, which was the largest English language Asian American newsweekly in the nation. "Amok" was considered the most widely-read column on Asian American issues in the U.S.  His thoughtful and provocative social commentaries have appeared in print in the San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate.com, San Francisco Examiner, USA Today, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu Advertiser, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and in syndication throughout the country.  His columns are seen in Asia and around the world, on Inquirer.net.   His early columns are compiled in a book "Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective," which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 2000.  Guillermo's journalistic career began in television and radio broadcasting. At National Public Radio, he was the first Asian American male to anchor a regularly scheduled national news broadcast when he hosted "All Things Considered" from 1989-1991. During his watch, major news broke, including the violence in Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of dictatorships in Romania and Panama. From Washington, Guillermo hosted the shows that broke the news.   As a television journalist, his award-winning reports and commentaries have appeared on NBC, CNN, and PBS. He was a reporter in San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.  After NPR, Guillermo became a press secretary and speechwriter for then Congressman Norman Mineta, the former cabinet member in the Bush and Clinton Administrations.   After his Hill experience, Guillermo returned to the media, hosting his own talk show in Washington, D.C. on WRC Radio. He returned to California where he hosted talk shows in San Francisco at KSFO/KGO, and in Sacramento at KSTE/KFBK.  Guillermo's columns in the ethnic press inspired a roundtable discussion program that he created, hosted, executive produced, resulting in more than 100 original half-hour programs. "NCM-TV: New California Media" was seen on PBS stations in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, and throughout the state on cable.  Guillermo also spent time as a newspaper reporter covering the poor and the minority communities of California's Central Valley. His writing and reporting on California's sterilization program on the poor and minorities won him statewide and national journalism awards.  In 2015, Guillermo received the prestigious Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice from the Asian American Journalists Association. The award, named after the late Korean American physician from Texas, recognizes excellence in the coverage of civil rights and social justice issues in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.  Guillermo, a native San Franciscan, went to Lowell High School, and graduated from Harvard College, where he was named Ivy Orator as the class humorist. Thanks for listening to Emil Amok's Takeout! http://www.twitter.com/emilamok http://www.aaldef.org/blog

Show log  Emil Amok’s Takeout Ep. 15 :00  Emil’s opening rap 1:46 San Diego Fringe Festival and SF Marsh shows 2:30 Coming up intros of top stories 5:05 What made me go amok this week 6:25 Martial Law in the Philippines? Oh, just “Partial Martial”? 18:12 Intro Celestino Almeda, the 100-year old  Filipino WW2 Vet still Fighting for his equity pay 24:12 Interview with Almeda 42:28 Intro and interview with Association of Asian American Studies President-elect Theo Gonzalves, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. 1:30:00 MY NBA FINALS PICK ---- <a href="http://aaldef.org/blog/emil-guillermo-emil-amoks-takeout-podcast---memorial-day-wwii-filipino-vet-theo-gonzalves-apahm.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Emil Guillermo: Emil Amok's Takeout Podcast - No rest on Memorial Day for a WWII Filipino Vet; and a conversation with AAAS President-elect Theo Gonzalves on APAHM</a> May 26, 2017 7:36 PM Memorial Day always winds up the annual observation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. And what better way to remember the one story (along with the Japanese American Internment) that lingers as the moral compass of the community. For that reason, this Memorial Day will be a special one for Filipino WWII Veteran Celestino Almeda. Despite many vets seeing an equity pay windfall in 2009, a handful like Almeda are still in appeals. His fight for justice with the U.S. government has been the bureaucratic version of the Bataan Death March. hat's no disrespect to the survivors of that historic event 75 years ago. Almeda certainly will remember deceased friends like retired U.S. Air Force Major Jesse Baltazar, a former POW who survived the Bataan Death March in 1942, and died just last year at age 96.   Baltazar often accompanied Almeda, fighting side by side in the latter's bureaucratic battle with the VA over equity pay. Almeda was a young soldier in the Philippine Army reserve, when he answered the call of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to protect the Philippines with the U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East. The added lure was full benefits as a soldier, including U.S. citizenship. As you'll hear in my interview with him on Emil Amok's Takeout, Almeda, the reservist, was made active for a year.  He was then made inactive when Gen. MacArthur retreated to Australia as the Japanese took over Manila. Almeda has official Philippine Army documents signed by U.S. officers to document all that. What he doesn't have is the record that he served in the guerrilla forces, which Almeda says were only verbal orders. Once the war was over, he was made active again and served side-by-side Americans. There would be no problem until President Truman signed the Rescission Act of 1946. which stripped the Filipino veterans of any right to the benefits that had been promised for their service. Ever since then--for more than 70 years--Filipinos like Almeda have been fighting piecemeal for a <a href="http://aaldef.org/blog/emil-guillermo-the-fight-for-pay-equity-is-not-over-for-many-filipino-veterans-of-wwii.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> restoral of all the benefits</a> due them.    Almeda's service has been good enough to help get him U.S. citizenship in 1990. He's even been given a VA card for medical benefits.  But it wasn't until President Obama in 2009 finally came through with a lump sum payment of $15,000 to Filipino veterans living in the U.S., and $9,000 for those still in the Philippines, that Almeda found himself in the bureaucratic battle of his life. The VA has approved more than nearly 19,000 cases, according to its website. The payout has been more than $220 million. But it's also rejected close to 24,000 cases.  There's about $56 million left in the pot. But that doesn't mean the VA is willingly giving it out, at least not to Almeda. The VA wouldn't honor his Philippine Army documents, though he has kept the originals in pristine condition. He's still currently in appeal, but in the meantime, he's taken to public protests like one last year when Robert McDonald, the VA Secretary under Obama appeared in public. In the Q&amp;A part of the program, Almeda tried to appeal to McDonald but had his mic turned off. MacDonald's reaction got a stern rebuke from retired General Antonio Taguba, the general who led the investigation into Abu Ghraib.  Taguba additionally pointed out that updates to the law--PL 111-5, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation)--directed the Secretary of VA to consider all forms of evidence of service and not just those originally considered.  "This amendment has not been fully executed by the VA," Taguba complained to Mc Donald. Now a year later, McDonald's out, a new VA head is in, and Almeda is still fighting for justice, seemingly locked in the Bataan Death March of appeals, hoping to get approved for his lump sum before he turns 100. It's Memorial Day, but his taste for justice has not died. Listen to him tell his story on Emil Amok's Takeout. Days before his 100th birthday, Almeda's still got a lot of fight left. AAAS President-elect Theo Gonzalves on the relevance of Asian American Studies today On my recent trip to Washington, DC, I was able to talk to an old friend, Theo Gonzalves of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the president-elect of the Association for Asian American Studies. What are they doing? How has Asian American Studies stayed relevant? How valuable is the AAS degree? Use the fast forward and listen to Gonzalves, where he thinks Asian American Studies is going, and the importance of APAHM. And if you want to read my Emil Amok column on Martial Law <a href="https://usa.inquirer.net/4026/martial-law-not-needed-can-stop-dutertes-destiny" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://usa.inquirer.net/4026/martial-law-not-needed-can-stop-dutertes-destiny</a> Contact Emil at <a href="http://www.aaldef.org/blog," rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.aaldef.org/blog,</a> the site of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.  If you like what you see, consider clicking the "DONATE" button.  AALDEF is a 501 C3 and your contribution is tax-deductible.  Give us your feedback there, or at <a href="http://www.amok.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.amok.com</a> Leave a voice message on Speakpipe.  We might use it in a future show. Consider subscribing for free on iTunes, where you can rate and review. You'll also find us on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Stitcher. BIO Emil Guillermo wrote for almost 15 years his "Amok" column for AsianWeek, which was the largest English language Asian American newsweekly in the nation. "Amok" was considered the most widely-read column on Asian American issues in the U.S. His thoughtful and provocative social commentaries have appeared in print in the San Francisco Chronicle, <a href="http://SFGate.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SFGate.com</a>, San Francisco Examiner, USA Today, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu Advertiser, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and in syndication throughout the country.  His columns are seen in Asia and around the world, on <a href="http://Inquirer.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inquirer.net</a>.  His early columns are compiled in a book "Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective," which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 2000. Guillermo's journalistic career began in television and radio broadcasting. At National Public Radio, he was the first Asian American male to anchor a regularly scheduled national news broadcast when he hosted "All Things Considered" from 1989-1991. During his watch, major news broke, including the violence in Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of dictatorships in Romania and Panama. From Washington, Guillermo hosted the shows that broke the news.  As a television journalist, his award-winning reports and commentaries have appeared on NBC, CNN, and PBS. He was a reporter in San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. After NPR, Guillermo became a press secretary and speechwriter for then Congressman Norman Mineta, the former cabinet member in the Bush and Clinton Administrations.  After his Hill experience, Guillermo returned to the media, hosting his own talk show in Washington, D.C. on WRC Radio. He returned to California where he hosted talk shows in San Francisco at KSFO/KGO, and in Sacramento at KSTE/KFBK. Guillermo's columns in the ethnic press inspired a roundtable discussion program that he created, hosted, executive produced, resulting in more than 100 original half-hour programs. "NCM-TV: New California Media" was seen on PBS stations in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, and throughout the state on cable. Guillermo also spent time as a newspaper reporter covering the poor and the minority communities of California's Central Valley. His writing and reporting on California's sterilization program on the poor and minorities won him statewide and national journalism awards. In 2015, Guillermo received the prestigious Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice from the Asian American Journalists Association. The award, named after the late Korean American physician from Texas, recognizes excellence in the coverage of civil rights and social justice issues in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Guillermo, a native San Franciscan, went to Lowell High School, and graduated from Harvard College, where he was named Ivy Orator as the class humorist. Thanks for listening to Emil Amok's Takeout! <a href="http://www.twitter.com/emilamok" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.twitter.com/emilamok</a> <a href="http://www.aaldef.org/blog" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.aaldef.org/blog</a>

Ep.15: Celestino Almeda, Filipino WW2 Vet still fighting for Equity; Martial Law?; Theo Gonzalves, AAAS president-elect