“Bipartisanship” is the New Buzzword
PerryScope
By Perry Diaz
October 27, 2006
Finally after several decades of partisanship, a new word is buzzing in the Filipino-American community --
“bipartisanship.” The coming together of the Fil-Am Democrats and Republicans at the National Federation
of Filipino-American Associations’ (NaFFAA) convention in Hawaii a few weeks ago bound the two groups
in launching an unprecedented project -- on a national scale -- to empower our community by registering
and educating Filipino-Americans to vote.
With almost three million Filipino-Americans -- which has more than doubled in 15 years -- we have yet to
elect a Filipino-American to the U.S. Congress. As in the words of the late political leader, Melecio Jacaban
25 years ago, we have not yet arrived in Washington, DC. It was true then and it is still true today. Why?
Was it lack of qualified candidates that we failed to do so? I don’t believe so. On the contrary, we have a lot
of qualified candidates who have been elected to state legislatures as well as local nonpartisan offices.
But the road to the nation’s capital is laden with obstacles. Each attempt turned into a dismal failure before
the campaign could even get started. Yes, we had two -- from a list of many -- young, popular, and articulate
Filipino-Americans who were elected to the state legislature, Democrat Jon Amores and Republican Jeff
Coleman. They were both in a viable position to get their party’s nomination in the primary provided that
they could raise the necessary amount of money to win in the general elections. But the inability to raise
money -- or the lack of financial support from our community -- to wage an effective campaign forced them to
withdraw from the race. In my opinion, our community had let them down.
Indeed, money -- or the ability to raise money -- is one of two key elements of a successful political
campaign. I have seen rich candidates running for office using their personal funds and failed miserably.
The money was not enough to win the election. To win, they still have to get the majority vote of their
constituents. In the end, political power emanates from the people. However, in a tight contest, it is the
swing vote that determines the outcome of an election.
Several minority ethnic groups have used their small but potent block vote effectively in tight races, which in
most elections is the case. The Hmongs have successfully done it several times in Minnesota… and for
their own candidates. Other Asian communities have done it as well. In California, all the major Asian
communities -- except the Filipino-Americans -- have successfully elected their own to their state
legislature, the latest of which was a Vietnamese-American assemblyman. With almost 1.5 million
Californians of Filipino descent -- representing one half of all Filipino-Americans -- we have yet to get a
Filipino-American elected to the California State Assembly. Why?
Let’s look at California. While it has been proven that Filipino-Americans can be elected to local
nonpartisan offices such as mayor or city council member, the glass ceiling to partisan offices has yet to be
broken. This leads me to believe that bipartisanship played a key role in electing Filipino-Americans to
nonpartisan offices. Party affiliation does not play a part in a nonpartisan election. But for a partisan
election, party affiliation plays a large part. But should this be the case when the candidate is a Filipino-
American? If so, then the community would be divided by party affiliation; thus, bifurcating the Filipino-
American vote and diminishing the chances of electing our own. We need to understand that once elected,
the elected official serves constituents regardless of party affiliation.
The bipartisanship demonstrated at the NaFFAA convention in Hawaii was a big step towards empowering
the Filipino-American community. Bipartisanship has began to break political barriers in our community.
Last week, I was invited by Victor Barrios to a meeting of the Global Filipino Forum in San Francisco to put
together a bipartisan -- nay, tri-partisan -- effort to empower the Filipino-Americans in the U.S. and in the
Philippines.
Victor said that for the past 14 months, they had tried to convince the Archdiocese of San Francisco -- which
has jurisdiction over three counties: San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin -- to allow voter registration for
Philippine-American dual citizens. Finally, the Archdiocese -- cognizant of the fact that voter registration is a
citizen’s right and not a “political activity” per se -- granted the request. Since Victor was aware of the
bipartisan alliance forged in Hawaii last month, he invited Filipino-American Republicans and Democrats in
the Bay Area to the meeting to discuss a tri-partisan project to conduct a voter registration drive in the 15
parishes of the archdiocese. The decision was made and a coordinator was appointed to oversee the
implementation of the voter registration project. This is a significant step because the Archdiocese of San
Francisco has one of the highest -- if not the highest -- concentrations of Filipino-Americans in the nation.
But like any other project, participation is the key to success. We need to inculcate in the minds of Filipino-
Americans that political empowerment can only be achieved by exercising our right of suffrage. The reality
is: politicians would only listen to those who vote. In other words, if we do not vote, we do not count.
Registering to vote and exercising the right to vote are what gives meaning to citizenship.
Recently, a question in regard to bipartisanship was posted in one of the internet forums: “What are the
things that Filipino-American Republicans and Democrats have in common?” I pondered the question for a
few days and tried to identify all the things that Filipino-American Republicans and Democrats have in
common. I came up with a very long list and only one difference. I finally posted my reply: “The only
difference between Filipino-American Republicans and Democrats is party affiliation.” Yes, indeed.
Filipinos came to America with the “Filipino Dream” -- freedom and prosperity for our children. And that
dream can be realized if we empower ourselves and be counted in the political process of our adopted
country. We need to know that only through political process can we assert ourselves and achieve the
“Filipino Dream.” After all, whether we like it or not, politics affects our lives 24/7.
Finally, there is a ray of hope and a shining light at the end of the tunnel. It’s time to coalesce and empower
our community.
(PerryDiaz@aol.com)
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