Senator Risa Hontiveros (third from the left row) receives the plaque of recognition by the Filipino American Press Club of California at the Albert O. Little Community Center in Artesia, Calif. (Photo by Nicanor B. Arriola)
By Christian Esteban
LOS ANGELES – Five years after her last visit in Los Angeles, PH opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros had once again engaged with Filipino American community to attend the Philippine Independence Day celebration and several community forums to discuss the political issues surrounding the Philippines.
In the morning of Friday, June 14, Hontiveros was warm welcomed with the Los Angeles public officials, including Fil-Am LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia and LA Philippine Consulate deputy consul general Alnee Gamble, to witness the resolution recognizing the 126th anniversary of Philippine Independence Day at the Los Angeles City Hall. In her speech shown in TFC News, the courageous lady senator honored the “kababayans” in the United States in various contributions to the “economic, social, cultural and political fabric in the community.” On the same day, the lone opposition senator was the main speaker to the townhall meeting at the Albert O. Little Community Center in Artesia, Calif. organized by NaFFAA (National Federation of Filipino American Associations), along with Fil-Am elected officials – former Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido and councilmember & former Artesia Mayor Melissa Ramoso – to address the several issues involving the homeland, such as the current state of Philippine economy, defending the West Philippine Sea territory, human trafficking cases, and the ongoing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) investigations in the Senate.
The momentous occasion came on Saturday, June 15, when Hontiveros was the guest speaker of the Kalayaan Grand Gala 2024 in Gardena, Calif. headed by President & Chairwoman Erlinda Granada-Sabah. It was her second time meeting and greeting the Fil-Am community in Los Angeles to deliver her Philippine Independence Day address. The lady senator was given an award recognition of the Kalayaan Incorporated for her dauntless fights to defend the rights of Filipino people. During the gala event, the live performance from the cast of “Karim & Jasmin,” the first Filipino original opera by Dr. Ramon Sison Geluz, was introduced to the invitees and the play will be shown on June 29 at the Wilshire Ebell Theater. The lead actors, Felson Palad and Kit Navarro, will be played as “Karim” and “Jasmin” respectively.
In an exclusive interview, Granada-Sabah was superb with her Kalayaan Incorporated board of directors to have a successful Philippine Independence Day celebration.
“The community, family and friends responded to the call to be together to celebrate and show that we value the freedom that our forefathers left to us. Anything we do with that freedom will be handed to the next generation and become a spot in our history,” she said.
“Embracing what we have and sharing to others is very important. A simple act of every individual will mount to a memorable occasion,” Granada-Sabah added.
The Kalayaan Incorporated President & Chairwoman also added that their organization chose Senator Risa Hontiveros as guest speaker once again because of her high standard in leadership and “a woman with a huge heart to defend and protect our ‘kababayans.’ Again, she deserves a big spot in today’s world, Philippines in particular for the future.”
On her last community forum held in Carson, Calif. sponsored by Pilipino Worker Center (PWC) and Filipino American Human Rights Alliance – Los Angeles on Sunday, June 16 (Father’s Day), the fearless senator, along with her Senate chief of staff Raffy Albert, faced the audience to answer some questions regarding her political work ethics, with the likes of pushing the divorce bill where most solons and senators are in favor of the passage, as well as the sexual abuse and human trafficking cases of the Socorro Bayanihan Services led by Jay Rence Quilario or also known as “Senor Aguila” and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ led by Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy who is now fugitive to the police authorities. Before the community forum, Hontiveros was given a Special Recognition Award by the Filipino Human Rights Alliance.
The soft-spoken opposition senator was being asked about her political plans as she is one of the possible contenders for the presidency in 2028. However, she is more inclined to unite the opposition as the 2025 midterm election is approaching and urged the Fil-Am community, especially the overseas absentee voters, to register to vote (deadline is on September 30, 2024) and support the opposition candidates by next year.
“My focus is electing more opposition senators next year (2025 midterm elections), so that we can continue to get stronger. We’ve been preparing for two years now since right after the 2022 (presidential) elections. It’s the second job we have to do (2028 presidential elections). Our first job is to really keep strengthening the opposition. We are going to fight again and elect more opposition senators, as well as representatives and local government officials. We can be a credible challenge to the administration, and more importantly, more credible offer to the voters and our ‘kababayans,’” Hontiveros said.
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