It is more proper that law should govern than any one of its citizens.
Aristotle
On Feb. 21, 2019, “The Rachel Maddow Show” team uncovered a telegram sent by then-Vice President Spiro Agnew seeking Saudi Millions to fight the ‘Zionists’. Agnew had then pled guilty to tax evasion charges, paid a $10,000 fine and “resigned from office with disgrace.” But, the criminal enterprise he headed was not proportional to the punishment he obtained as he was still able to live as a private citizen.
Agnew had sent a telegram as a private citizen seven years later to the Ahmad Abdul Wahab, Chief of Royal Protocol, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, seeking an audience with Crown Prince Fahad for his “personal emergency” and got a response to see the Crown Prince on August 15, 1988.
On August 25, 1988, he wrote the Prince to obtain financial support of $2,000,000 in a secret account for a political campaign against the Jews, using the interest of $200,000 for three years.
Isn’t it nuts that this former VP secured a loan from Saudi Arabia, living off from the interest to fight the Jews? NBC’s historian validated these documents that Rachel Maddow obtained from Greg Schneider as true. Agnew later thanked the Saudi Prince for the financial help he obtained.
Agnew then became an advisor to then-U.S. Presidential Candidate George Herbert Bush in October 1988. Bush had chosen Dan Quayle to run as VP and one who was ridiculed by the media for spelling potato as ‘potatoe.’
Why should these historical facts matter today?
Folks mistakenly believe that a sitting U.S. president cannot be subject to indictment. There is no such protection that is written in the U.S. Constitution.
Instead, there is a 1973 memo written by Robert Dixson, head of the Office of Legal Counsel.
J.T. Smith, who was then working with Attorney General Elliott Richardson, affirmed that the memo was written to expressly support the indictability of Agnew to remove him from the line of succession, given Nixon and Watergate.
Smith, in an interview with Rachel Maddow, said that the intent of the memo was not on the question of indictability of the president. It was focused on the indictability of the vice president.
At that time, Agnew was getting cash and kickbacks for government contracts as the top city official of Maryland and continued getting kickbacks as governor of Maryland. The criminal enterprise continued while as VP inside the White House, according to “The Rachel Maddow Show,” as Agnew was literally taking cash bribes in envelopes, while a 40-count indictment was waiting to be served on him.
From that 1973 memo written specifically to support the indictment and removal of Agnew, it somehow got stretched to support the conclusion that a U.S. president cannot be indicted and a conclusion that there is a de facto immunity from prosecution for country’s top office.
So where does this historical artifact-digging lead us? In fact, what we know is that the president can be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanor.
Yet there is a distinction between an indictment and an impeachment.
Indictment, as you know, is arrived at by a grand jury voting on a proposed felony charge, witnesses’ testimony and other evidence presented by the District Attorney, while impeachment is a process coming from the legislature against a government official and is based on a statement of charges. It is like an indictment with the charges listed, but only it is coming from Congress.
So now we await the current Special Counsel’s Robert Mueller report, unredacted to be shared with congressional oversight committees. We still foresee that those who committed felonies, traceable to all the president’s men will face justice.
Just like those who have been arrested, indicted, pled and have served their jail time: Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, Alex van der Zwaan, George Papadopoulos, Richard Pinedo, 13 Russian nationals and three entities, 12 Russian military intelligence officers and Konstantin Kilimnik, according to Andrew Witherspoon of Axios.
If all the president’s men have been indicted, arrested, served time, could his inner circle be reached, as well as the president himself?
What we know is that, from the history of U.S. governance and its adherence to the rule of law, U.S. President Richard Nixon resigned because of Watergate, and a vice president paid a $10,000 fine and resigned with disgrace from his office.
Would any of these be the fate of this sitting U.S. President Donald Trump?
Cover Photo: Bishop Alex Aclan, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles | AJPress photo by Noel Ty
We know that our liturgies—especially the Eucharist—are a foretaste of heaven on earth, I cannot think of a better foretaste of heaven than this.
Bishop Alex D. Aclan, Auxiliary Bishop for the San Fernando Region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
This ordination is such a witness of our faith in God and joy of spirit. I hope this spiritual experience gives hope and encouragement, especially to those in need of comfort and strength.
Mary Jolisa Lazaro, Sister of Notre Dame representing Provincial Sister Anncarla, 2019
Gray skies greeted us on the morning of May 16. Rains kept coming down, strong enough to give cars a good bath and to wash off the streets’ grime and dirt. A silent prayer was offered that the sun comes out, while thinking of the thousands expected to attend. The gray skies were gone in an hour and the warm sun with blue skies appeared. It set the tone for over three thousand who attended the episcopal ordination.
The last ordination we attended was that of Bishop Oscar Solis in 2004. We were seated at the front row, courtesy of Fritz Friedman’s invitation. That ordination brought in a New Orleans’ contingent of well-dressed women, complete with their fascinators and lots of tears, sacredness and some laughter, as Bishop Solis has a comfort and confidence to put his audience at ease.
Fast forward to 2019, Msgr. Lorenzo Miranda warmly greeted me, who in his generosity of spirit, sat and kept me company. “I like this weather, cool enough for us to feel comfortable,” he said, while we waited 1-½ hours before the ordination at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels. I shared a copy of the article I wrote for the Balikbayan Magazine, “Harvesting Miracles in the Holy Land.” He gave the article a quick read and synthesized the themes: ecumenism, unity, solidarity, and miracles, and said that it would be a good gift for the new bishop.
“That is a lot to write about, given these days of moral mediocrity,” he said. “We are in a fractured and divided world.”
“Yes, Msgr, and humanity, solidarity and love are the life themes I go by these days.
He affirmed that is what we need and lamented the surge in homelessness in Los Angeles, while over 48,500 storage facilities are built in the U.S., for the commodities we do not use and now are put away. “Why not house these folks?”
Rev. Rodel Balagtas, Auxiliary Bishop Alex Aclan and Msgr. Lorenzo Miranda
Close to a dozen stopped to say hi to Msgr., including a priest who went inside the café, and thoughtfully got him a cup of coffee. “Look at what he did, and with a big smile.”
Beth, an elderly woman dressed in her barong Tagalog, also greeted Msgr. Lorenzo and she shared spontaneously, “Fr. Alex healed me.” She got sick while on a trip to Italy and was hospitalized. Unable to speak the language, she kept praying. Lo and behold, a friend of a friend showed up with a priest who lives in Rome, who translated for her. When Beth was well enough to travel, she flew back to LA to seek health care. “Fr. Aclan came to visit me. I was healed by him,” she declared, “That is how good he is.”
I heard many more stories of Bishop Aclan’s goodness, while we were waiting to have our photos with him, after the ordination. The line snaked almost the entire circumference of the plaza, with winds quite vigorous. I told Bishop Aclan that even the Holy Spirit must be happy with his ordination, as to have these strong winds with us this afternoon, including an abrupt change in the weather. To the atheist, that will be dismissed as changing weather patterns.
The ordination at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels
I was moved to see Bishop Aclan walking by himself, in his full regalia as a bishop, and sat in his bishop’s chair, an altar decorated with white phalaenopsis orchids, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio Most Reverend Christophe Pierre, a representative of Pope Francis, and followed by the principal ordaining bishop, Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles and two co-ordaining bishops: His Eminence Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles and Most Reverend Oscar Solis, Bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah. I actually cried, realizing I have witnessed two Filipino priests, born in the Philippines, now both ordained as bishops of Los Angeles.
Apostolic Nuncio Pierre spoke that Aclan is now being ordained to the office of Bishops, to the full stature of Christ, his chosen journey, and to serve many, an appointment letter signed by Pope Francis, to which was written: “Having grown in the Philippines, you know about change. Help us serve the local church of Los Angeles.”
“‘I know that you wanted a nice, quiet sabbatical, but the Holy Father has called you to something great in the service of the Church. Now, God is calling you to something heroic, to preach his Gospel and and lift the burdens of his people,’ the nuncio told Aclan. ‘These days everyone wants to see the Avengers movie. I suppose we could speculate about your superhero name, but there can be no question about your superpower, the power of prayer,’” Pablo Kay of Angelus News quoted Pierre on May 16, 2019.
It was a very endearing moment when Bishop Aclan shared the copy of Pope Francis’ appointment letter with the VIP – seated section of the crowd, as part of the 3,000 plus gathered inside the Cathedral. The tapestries hung inside, without designations of saints, that to the ordinary visitors, Sister Jolisa teaches her students, simply represented, “humanity in all its colors,” the diversity of Los Angeles.
Archbishop Gomez jokingly said that Aclan should show the appointment letter to the back – that’s where your fans are. Gomez welcomed him to the College of Bishops and summoned that “by your holy life be a true witness of God.”
He said, “My brother, Jesus reminds you today in the Gospel that as a bishop – you are not a ‘lord,’ but a servant, you are not a ‘master’, but a father. As a bishop, you need to let Jesus be your only teacher. Grow deeper in the heart of Jesus so his heart becomes yours, not only for you but for others, in humility and in loving service.”
Gomez called for a conversion of hearts to Jesus, reminding us, “The Church does not belong to any of us. It belongs to God.”
Each of the 17 bishops, dressed in their capes and mitre or diadem placed their hands on Aclan’s head and offered their blessings on him.
In the side of the altar, to the left, were seated hundreds of Catholic priests. We recognized our pastor Fr. Rolly Clarin, past pastor Fr. Rodel Balagtas, Fr. Freddie Chua, Fr. Joy Lawrence Santos and Fr. Raymond Decipeda.
To the right of the altar were deacons, accompanied by their wives, and in the front: two Greek Orthodox priests, one of whom is Most Reverend Fr. Alexei Smith.
Eleven years ago, I prayed to God that my column, Rhizomes, which is published weekly on Saturday in Los Angeles, be a witness to transformation. I prayed to witness Pope Francis’ visit the U.S. in the White House under then 44th U.S. President Barack Obama’s tenure. I was so humbled when my prayers were answered.
I am now witnessing another transformation of a pastor, a parish priest in Aclan, whom I interviewed in St. Madeleine Catholic Church in Pomona, who was forthright in sharing about the victim of a gang shooting, comforting the family of a three year old, Ethan Esparza, then surrounded by white flowers and photographs, and said: “We leave Ethan in the hands of the Lord,” in Spanish. Years later, he was promoted to Vicar General and now, a Bishop.
Speaking fluidly in English, Tagalog and Spanish, Fr. Aclan served as St. Finbar’s associate priest where he started a Filipino ministry. Striving to learn from Fr. Aclan’s systems-oriented, clear thinking, I asked how he formed the ministry. “First, identify the leaders. Organize a get-together, and assign them. The key is to involve them in the parish for invariably, their talents would be found and they will like being in the ministry. Their various tasks included giving sacraments, going to the choir, doing the apostolic work amongst the poor, the sick and doing door-to-door visitation amongst the parishioners.”
Aclan also became one of the vocation directors of the Archdiocese while in residence at the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with teenagers as his primary target group. He then became the Associate Pastor of St. John of God in Norwalk and organized the Filipino ministry, including a bereavement ministry to support the beginning experiences for the widows, widowers and a Respect Life group. He was the spiritual director of the Filipino Cursillo Group in 2009-2010 and served for five years as the Archdiocesan Liaison for Filipino Charismatic groups.
It is what Msgr. Miranda referred to as “building the spirit of the Church.”
Fr. Rodel Balagtas, the incoming parish priest of the Incarnation Church in Glendale and outgoing faculty of St. John’s Seminary and its commencement speaker in their 2019 graduation, had this to say, “ A good, wise, and prayerful man! I like that he could not hold his tears upon thanking Mama Mary during his speech. I could identify with his sentiment; He has learned to be more open, understanding and “real” as he ministers to people. And yet, he challenges people too to be faithful to the Gospel. He’s fun to travel with—lots of humor and playfulness. You never get bored with his stories. He’s an excellent steward of financial resources. He spends wisely and saves. His “humanness” comes from the facts that he enjoys seeing movies and going out to eat. He loves working in the yard. He takes care of his health. He is very organized and clean with his work. He’s a hardworking priest!”
Bishop Joe Brennan wrote, “The good news is that my successor, Msgr. Bishop-elect Alex Aclan is wonderful and will guide this Region of San Fernando in the most beautiful and pastoral way imaginable.”
The genesis of his priesthood
It was two years ago when I interviewed the Bishop, then the Vicar for Clergy of the Archdiocese of LA for a feature article. I still recall what he said, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. (John 10:27-30). It’s important to think of Jesus’ message—it is a voice [there are] lots of voices around us, learn to identify Jesus’ voice amidst all the voices we hear in our lives. A voice comes as personal, warm, it is comforting and it is not cold.”
When we got to a natural end of the interview at a pizza place, near Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles, I asked Fr. Aclan what makes him realize God exceeds science. His response was persuasive: “It is the experience. I cannot show empirical data. I know what I am feeling is authentic, it is true.”
After all, he was a tenured instructor at the University of Santo Tomas for the sciences: chemistry, botany, physiology, hematology and microbiology. Then, a computer programmer at Meralco, a power utility company, and later a systems manager. He moved to Summa Computers, FNCB Finance and San Miguel Corporation, the biggest manufacturer of beer in the Philippines. When he got to the U.S., he worked as a systems analyst at Union Bank and two years later, a systems manager overseeing six employees and a budget of $1,000,000.
He became a priest at age 42, and pursued his Master’s of Divinity at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. He got ordained as a priest in 1993 by Cardinal Roger Mahony, who was present as co-ordaining bishop as Bishop Oscar Solis and Archbishop Jose Gomez.
“Bishop Aclan reflects on how those previous professions were there for a purpose, I once thought I would be a physical doctor, a doctor of the body, and I’ve ended up a doctor of the soul. In computer programming, I now see that it was God’s way of teaching me administration—preparing job descriptions, interviewing candidates, finding the right people. This is one of the important demands of a priest today,“ as his episcopal ordination booklet reads.
I still recall the story that he shared with me, looking for a priest who spoke Japanese for St. Francis Xavier Chapel–Japanese Catholic Center. He was at a loss as to where to find this priest. “We did not know what to do. Miraculously, in less than a week after the need arose, a visiting priest, who had permission from his religious community to propagate the devotion to the Sacred Heart, came to our office to offer his services, and this priest whose first language [Vietnamese] was different happened to have done his theological studies in the second language [Japanese] that we needed for this parish. He did not only speak Japanese, he reads and writes it as well. That became my “Oh my God’ moment!”
His motto, “One Body – One Spirit has been both a personal philosophy of life and a family dictum, and sometimes even a cry for battle. But in Church heraldry, a prelate’s personal motto has always been intended to represent his personal spirituality and theologically based philosophy of life and is most grounded in Sacred Scripture and spiritual reflection. It comes from the Ephesians 4:4:” With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love. Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all.”
“The bishop’s entire coat of arms is grounded in this particular dictum and so it is most appropriate that the motto that he has chosen likewise forms the theme for his overall coat of arms design. Upon the banderole (motto ribbon) appears the emblem taken from the Philippine flag. This is an official homage to the bishop’s homeland. Catholic heraldic rubrics forbid the inclusion of political emblems within the shield itself. And so here on the banderole, the Filipino emblem of national pride has been placed. The designers deliberately placed it so that it falls in a direct line with the blue stone in the cross above symbolizing California, his chosen home the former and the present in line symmetrically.
“The main portion…in its design is found perfection both as a whole and as three separate unique parts, in the same way that the Triune God is absolutely perfect as a whole and also when separated into our understanding of the Trinity’s three distinct Persons. God is the metal reserved in Catholic heraldry to represent purity and the divinity and the perfection of God and so it was specifically selected for this special Trinitarian emblem,” the ordination booklet reads.
Throughout the history of the American presidency, from George Washington’s inauguration to the present day, the chief executive’s duties have encompassed more than politics. Our presidents are charged with responding to the hopes and aspirations of the American people, and this is a tremendous burden – one that has crushed some and elevated others. The Constitution only minimally defines the powers of the president because the Founders sought to create an office that could and develop as the course of American history unfolded. They trusted in posterity and relied upon the character and wisdom of American citizenry. In our democracy, the power of the office is subject to the leader’s relationship with the electorate, and the most influential American presidents have transcended their own eras to shape the country’s present as well as its future. When these individuals took the oath of office, they all accepted an enormous responsibility. But their specific circumstances and their distinct personalities leave us with unique stories of both triumph and failure. On their own, each of the portraits in America’s Presidents depicts a leader whose life offers lessons in governance, endurance and character. Collectively, they reveal the contours of the history of the United States.
The America’s Presidents exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery
Cover Photo: Andrew Johnson’s portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC | Photo by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz
There is a certain awe and respect that one accords to this exhibit on America’s presidents. Particularly evident were the sacrifices made by a Republican Abraham Lincoln who sought unity and chose a Southern Democrat, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. All along, Lincoln believed that Johnson was a staunch defender of the Union and by choosing him as Lincoln’s running mate; he would help hold the border states.
Abraham Lincoln’s portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC | Photo by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz
But, following Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson became an unfortunate choice. Why? He switched positions and now clashed with the Republican majority in Congress, opting to return power to the white Southern planters and the former Confederate states and to deprive the freed slaves of their rights. This clashed with Lincoln’s vision. Johnson’s treasonous belief to the forming Union, betraying the country, led to his impeachment, but he escaped conviction by one vote, according to the book for the National Portrait Gallery’s America’s Presidents exhibit.
I visited this exhibit on May 3, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Crowds had formed around the portrait of 44th U.S. President Barack Obama, eager to take selfies with the portrait. The caption of the portrait described him “as the President who worked on improving the economy, after inheriting the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. While working to improve the economy, he also succeeded in enacting the Affordable Care Act, extending health benefits to millions of previously uninsured Americans. Overseas, he oversaw the drawdown of American troops in the Middle East – a force reduction that was controversially replaced with an expansion of drone and aviation strikes. Though his mission to kill al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden was successful, his pledge to close the Guantanamo prison went unrealized.” It was also under his tenure that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, legalized it in all 50 states and required states to honor out of state same-sex marriage licenses in the case Obergefell v. Hodges, narrated a companion video excerpt from the Smithsonian Gallery and History Channel.
In the same exhibit and in the companion book, issued by the National Portrait Gallery, I was surprised to read that it included 45th U.S. President Donald J. Trump who has served 838 days and has 622 days more to serve as of this writing. He has not quite finished his presidential term to merit a mention in this exhibit book. All 44 U.S. presidents have completed their terms before they were included in the America’s Presidents book, and their portraits have been done by chosen portrait artists.
Trump is described as “television star that completed a stunning rise to the presidency by defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton, after one of the most volatile and divisive campaigns in recent memory. Tapping into a deep vein of populist American sentiment, Trump — to the surprise of the party’s establishment figures-garnered the Republican nomination and became the first nonpolitician to win the presidency since Eisenhower. The beginnings of his presidency have been tumultuous and even chaotic, as he has begun to exercise political power. As was the case with his business career, the presidency of Donald Trump will be defined by the personality of the man himself.” He is described as a “can-do businessman who cut through red tape and accepted practices to get things done.”
I wonder now how the National Portrait Gallery will portray him after the publication of the 448-page Mueller report? As of this writing, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The New Yorker reported that nearly 800 former federal prosecutors, who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations at different levels of the federal system declared their beliefs: “Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.”
The Mueller report describes several acts that satisfy all of the elements for an obstruction charge: conduct that obstructed or attempted to obstruct the truth-finding process, as to which the evidence of corrupt intent an connection to pending proceedings is overwhelming. These include: • The President’s efforts to fire Mueller and to falsify evidence about that effort; • The President’s efforts to limit the scope of Mueller’s investigation to exclude his conduct; and • The President’s efforts to prevent witnesses from cooperating with investigators probing him and his campaign.
The letter explains that despite the legal advice by then-White House Counsel Don McGahn (who has since resigned) that the president could face legal jeopardy for doing so, Trump directed McGahn on multiple occasions to fire Mueller or to gin up false conflicts of interest as pretext for getting rid of the Special Counsel.
Note that Rod Rosenstein appointed the Special Counsel on May 7, 2017 for purposes of investigating the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections and to prosecute cases arising from the investigation. Mueller prosecuted several cases and referred 14 cases to prosecutors in different parts of the country.
When efforts to fire Mueller gained public view, “Trump made repeated efforts to have McGahn deny the story, going so far as to tell McGahn to write a letter “for our files” falsely denying that Trump had directed Mueller’s termination.”
President Trump obstructed the truth-telling process of the investigation by seeking to fire Mueller and even ordered documents to be made up that he did not do so. If Mueller had been fired, that would have seriously impeded the investigation, and resulted in obstruction, literally.
The prosecutors continue: ”Directing the creation of false government records in order to prevent or discredit truthful testimony is similarly against the law.
The Special Counsel’s report states: “Substantial evidence indicates that in repeatedly urging McGahn to dispute that he was ordered to have the Special Counsel terminated, the President acted for the purpose of influencing McGahn’s account in order to deflect or prevent scrutiny of the President’s conduct toward the investigation.”
Attempts to limit the Mueller investigation They continue their analysis: First, when the president in public view and in private view, called for the un-recusal of Jeff Sessions, the U.S. attorney general, so Sessions can provide oversight to the investigation. He wanted the Attorney General, paid by U.S. taxpayers to be the president’s defense lawyer, a misuse of the AG, who is the American people’s prosecuting lawyer. Trump also directed then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to fire Sessions and Priebus refused.
The president committed more acts of obstruction, this time, after being told that McGahn could not reach Sessions, Trump went outside of the White House and got his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, to carry a demand to Sessions to limit Mueller to looking into future elections only. Lewandowski tried but failed. Lewandowski tried to contact a senior White House official Rick Dearborn who has had a prior relationship with Sessions but Dearborn did not pass along the Trump’s message. Whether Trump’s actions resulted in successful obstruction or not, the law clearly states obstruction can be in the form of an attempted one or a completed action.
The prosecutors write, “All of this conduct – trying to control and impede the investigation against the President by leveraging his authority over others – is similar to the conduct we have seen charged against other public officials and people in powerful positions.”
Witness tampering and intimidation The prosecutors continued, “The Special Counsel’s report establishes that the President tried to influence the decisions of both Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort with regard to cooperating with investigators. Some of this tampering and intimidation, including the dangling of pardons, was done in plain sight via tweets and public statements…private messages through private attorneys, such as Trump counsel Rudy Giuliani’s message to Cohen’s lawyer that Cohen should “sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places.”
The special counsel’s investigation report states on page 157, “Our investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations. The incidents were often carried out through one-on-one meetings, which the President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels.
These actions ranged from efforts to remove the Special Counsel and to reverse the effect of the Attorney General’s recusal; to the attempted use of official power to limit the scope of the investigation; to direct and indirect contacts with witnesses with the potential to influence their testimony. ..The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his request. Comey did not end the investigation of Flynn, which ultimately resulted in Flynn’s prosecution and conviction for lying to the FBI.”
The president’s defense lawyer provided legal defense and argued “that a core obstruction-of-justice statute, 18 USC Section 1512 (c)(2) does not cover the President’s actions. Special Counsel wrote that Article 2 of the Constitution does not categorically and permanently immunize the President from potential liability for the conduct that we investigated.”
This obstruction-of-justice statute provides that whoever corruptly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals a record, document, or attempts to do so or otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes an official proceeding shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years or both.
The report states “The President has no more right than other citizens to impede official proceedings by corruptly influencing witness testimony. The conduct would be equally improper whether effectuated through direct efforts to produce false testimony or suppress the truth, or through the actual, threatened, or promised use of official powers to achieve the same result.”
Doing presidential leveraging of his powers and authority and by making them known to the public by tweeting does not absolve the president from his obstructive actions. After all, the President took an oath of office, “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” U.S. Constitution Article 2 Section 3. The harm to the justice system’s integrity is threatened; either by both attempted or completed acts of obstruction, the special counsel argued.
In Trump’s written answers to the deposition submitted on Nov. 20, 2018, the President had written in 30 occasions of “does not recall” or “no independent recollection,” which were deemed inadequate.
Further, in the laws of evidence, when an individual directs the destruction of evidence or the creation of false or conflicting statements — all those can be construed as evidence of one’s consciousness of guilt, a consciousness to cover-up one’s crimes, including active obstruction and making false statements.
The special counsel has transferred 14 pending cases to the Eastern District of Virginia, District of Columbia, and Western District of Pennsylvania, which include open cases of Michael Flynn and Roger Stone.
Completed prosecutions and completed term of imprisonment were reported on George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan while Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, and Richard Pinedo are serving jail sentences.
President Trump has now directed all White House staff not to cooperate with the Congressional oversight committees requesting a fuller unredacted Mueller report, the president’s income tax returns, the emails on the Puerto Rico disaster relief operations, the 2,300 families still separated at the border and the deployment of an aircraft carrier and bomber task force to warn Iran. As to what we are threatening war, we do not know of the specific goal to achieve.
On December 29, 2016, President Barack Obama imposed sanctions against Russia. Mike Flynn contacted the U.S. Ambassador to Russia and denied that he talked about sanctions with them. Trump Jr. also made telephone calls around this time and is now under subpoena by Congress.
Why? Russia was not considered a U.S. ally, yet Pres. Trump has shown favor to Moscow and reversed these sanctions, justifying that they were imposed by Pres. Obama “to embarrass him as 45th President,” when facts revealed that high levels of Russian authorities had interfered in the U.S. elections.
When the sanctions against Russia were lifted by 45th, the operational costs of bottling in aluminum cans in America increased, one company reported it at $40 million, for a ten percent tariffs on aluminum imports, with an increase in investment to be provided by Russian oligarchs. It would be $200 million from a certain Oleg Deripaska, a shareholder/billionaire of United Co. Rusal, a new investor in Kentucky’s aluminum plants that now, Russia has gained a foothold in the U.S. aluminum business. U.S. internal manufacturing activity has dropped since August 2018 and U.S. producers of aluminum are struggling.
Why would a sitting 45th U.S. president go against the weight of posterity and precedents set by former presidents of the USA?
Why did Ronald Reagan remove all the solar panels installed in the White House by President Jimmy Carter? We could have saved energy costs to keep the lights on in the White House almost three decades ago? Why did Trump try to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act that benefited uninsured millions at least 60 times? Why did Trump reverse the sanctions imposed on Russia by Pres. Obama and now, disfavored U.S. companies from manufacturing since August 2018 by increasing their costs of operations, given the tariffs imposed on aluminum imports?
“The Sea Will Tell,” says Vincent Bugliosi, and the waves will reveal all the hidden truth and we will soon know why 45th kept the truth from being told or told conflicting lies and statements to conceal what happened to Russia’s 2016 interference in the U.S. elections. We now know the lies of 43rd U.S. president leading us to an unjust war in Iraq by falsely claiming weapons of mass destruction were being assembled in the country of Iraq. Or is 45th counting on the same treatment as 43rd, of not being accountable for his mega-lies to the American people?
Is Trump afraid of having his presidency declared illegitimate and therefore part of the exhibit sourcebook, “America’s Presidents” as a failed president?
Will 45th be deemed a failure if he is impeached or after he leaves office in 2020, indicted, convicted, fined and face imprisonment of 20 years?
I reckon his interests are best served by telling the truth, submitting to full oversight by Congress and be accountable. He has manufactured a man-made crisis using his presidential powers, perhaps he can be man enough to undo his obstruction of justice towards Congress and be man enough to disclose all of the hidden truth, including his income tax returns dating back to 1994 since the New York Times has gotten transcripts of his 10-year income taxes up to 1994 through the State of New York. We now need 1994 to 2018.
Purposeful giving is not as apt to deplete one’s resources. It belongs to that natural order of giving that seems to renew itself even in the act of depletion. The more one gives, the more one has to give – like milk in the breast. Even in our purposeful giving must have some source that refills it. The milk in the breast must be replenished by food taken into the body. If it is woman’s function to give, she must be replenished too. But how?
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea, 1975.
Stand Tall and Proud. Sink Your Roots into the Earth. Be Content with Natural Beauty. Drink Plenty of Water. Enjoy the View.
Ilan Shamir.
Nicole David Yalong (Nicole) is a Gen Y mom, petite, pretty, a yoga-enthusiast, singer, lyricist, and a baker, who is married to Jake Yalong, an engineer by profession. When she asked me to be her ninang, I could not attend her destination wedding in Pampanga, Philippines.
Yet ceremony or not, and even with her busy mothering of twins, we have grown to be supportive friends via text and Instagram, anchored by occasional personal visits after museum, and before or after my interviews.
Somehow, her being a millennial has not created a gap with me, but high respect and awe for her courageous voice imparting appropriate wisdom she discerns from life.
I first saw a glimpse of her onstage at the Ford Amphitheater when she sang next to her international jazz, award-winning artist/composer/singer father, Mon David and her brother, Carlo David, a composer/singer/guitarist/saxophonist.
Nicole sang the beginning verses with pitch-perfect tunes, not laboring at all, but confident to reach a note and an ability to expand her vocal cords through a wide range. It is with exceptional ease, but depth of feelings, perhaps honed by her skill of writing lyrics to the tunes composed by her brother, Carlo and listening to her dad, Mon, sing, compose and arrange music as he plays the guitar.
One evening, she joined her dad at one of his jazz concerts to sing just one, she said, as it took posting the lyrics at every visible place in her home, given her role as a very busy mother of twin toddlers, Leo and Nico, who were stomping on the water puddle they created, as they watered the garden, with their rain boots on.
The serendipity of four backyard trees and thousand bloom parenting
I noticed the serendipity created by God for this family with four orange bearing fruit trees in their backyard and a towering pine tree in the front. The oranges from these trees are harvested in time to quench the thirst of very busy twins: shoveling dirt into their dump trucks, sorting and measuring soil, moving their trucks on the cement.
The twins are nurtured to develop competence and you can watch them on Instagram squeezing the juice of the oranges into their glasses. After a nutritious lunch, chocolate ice cream cone treats await them at times, from their dad, Jake, who occasionally squeezes in a few minutes to drop by from his engineering fieldwork projects.
I regard the four trees much like the four corners of the world, the inclusivity of north, south, east and west. Even illustrative of the four gospels of St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Mark the Evangelist, St. Luke the Evangelist, and St. John the Apostle.
Nicole and Jake’s new home is filled with light, open to the four orange trees in the backyard with a newly installed white fence, using the collective bayanihan labor of siblings and Nicole’s parents they share the home with.
I watched the twins come back from a day in the park with their grandfather, Mon David, and their mom, Nicole. As we walked into the threshold of their new house, I could feel the serenity, welcomed by a sea aqua-blue color of their front door.
As the twins were catching their breath, Mon started singing “Java Jive” by Manhattan Transfer asNicole joins in on pitch “I love coffee, I love tea, I love the java live and it loves me. Coffee and tea and the java and me. A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup.”
The twins settled down quickly.
I was not born into this Kapampangan family, yet I feel part of them, as I partake lunch of guinataang langka and bulalo cooked by Ann David, a medical technologist by profession.
Nicole sat in front of the twins, spooning portions of bulalo into their bowls, after eating a chocolate banana loaf that I baked for them. Nicole explained that is how she eats, desserts first.
I smiled noticing how confident a mother she is, trustful of how she was raised and how she belongs on this earth with her knowledge, skills and abilities.
Nicole and the twins with her parents, Ann and Mon | Photo courtesy of Nicole David Yalong
One of my favored advocacies, if one can call it that, is giving three books to pregnant friends, as gifts. I found these invaluable: Magda Gerber’s “Caring for Infants with Respect and Your Self-Confident Baby: How to Encourage Your Child’s Natural Abilities From the Very Start” and Dr. Shefali Tsabary’s “The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children.” For every child grown using Gerber’s foundational philosophy, I have watched them become self-reliant, kind, compassionate adults who are productive citizens, a wish I have for every grown adult on earth towards sustained peace and harmony, including myself.
Aside from these three books, Nicole added what she learned given her interests in working with children. She shared Waldorf homeschooling methods of using art and nature in providing a holistic exposure to experiment and discovery.
She also reads her daily source of spiritual wisdom, living a purposeful life daily and she gains insights on how to fill up the interior heart vessels of her twins, guided by Gary Chapman’s “Five Languages of Love.”
She is conscious and clearly delineates the needs of her twins, one needs to be caressed and held until he is ready to be on his own, while the other is independent and seeks what he needs, focused attention on reading and art and by performing for family. At a baby shower, Leo held the microphone and sang “Do Re Mi.” and almost had all the lyrics.
Nicole and Jake believe in foundational Montessori, which is parenting that is child-centered, based on scientific observations of the children’s developments.
“Grace, not perfection,” Nicole asserts, after reading all the books given to her on parenting. She distilled the principles that she learned including the philosophy of providing safe environments to her twins and trusting them, “it takes more control to let go, than to control them,“ she said.
She emphasized how she relies on Jake at night, and through discussions, they both process how the day has been with the twins and what to improve upon.
Jake shared: “I am very blessed to have Nicole as my wife and the mother of my children. She’s dedicating her whole life in taking care of our twins and I really admire her for that. We are aware that we are opposites when it comes to our habits and interests, but we are happy together. That is probably because we share the same dream — how we want to raise our family and that for us, outweigh our [individual] differences.”
Can you believe these twins can stay in the backyard for three hours, alongside their mom, who is gardening, while they are shoveling dirt into their firetrucks and dump wagons, as well as find bark and leaves to play with, as they wish?
Try doing this, as they do, and after, a treat of freshly squeezed orange juice from their backyard trees? Would it be heavenly?
Nicole’s instincts are so right on. She arranged the four corners of the twins’ playroom with age-appropriate toys, activities and books. In the north corner, she has a book display, of books that support the twins chosen activities in nature or in the park. In the opposite corner is a table with white paper and markers. The twins were trained to only draw on paper provided on the table, and not the walls. On the east corner are plastic organizers that the twins can access for trucks, cars and legos. Nicole replenishes them daily to nurture their fine motor skills or assembling and balancing towers as the lessons for the day. Opposite that are some stuffed toys that invite the twins to linger, explore and discover what they want to do for the day.
Mom has 10 books on display, chosen for them to read, and Jake and Nicole read four to five with unhurried time until the twins are too weary to stay awake and fall asleep on their own at night. The rewards of this generous indulgent reading of 10 books are a quiet dinner shared by the couple, but also, bright, eager and ready-to-read twins.
I sometimes post on Instagram, “Genius in the making,” as the twins are reading the letters of EXIT, when they shop with their parents. They form letters using elbow macaroni and even match big and small letters using the puzzles. Their dad, Jake carefully chooses the puzzles, and assembles legos and wood blocks as towers with them on weekends, which enhances their perceptive abilities.
Equally remarkable is how quiet the twins are at the dinner table or any restaurant, focused on spooning every bite of food into their mouths until their stomachs are full and they get down from their boosters, raring to go to their playroom. Can you say that about meals with your toddlers?
Coming from Santorini, my jubilant niece Regine — newly married to Nikko — stayed with us for a week. She asked, “Tita, do they not choose only to do for themselves what they want?” I smiled as it was an invitation for a profound exchange of reflections.
Leo is busy drawing and coloring and matching his alphabets, while Nico is working with his trucks and cars and assembles towers. But also, Nicole trains them to help with laundry. How? Leo takes out v the clothes from the washer into the dryer. Then, when Nicole is baking cookies, Leo is excited to have “baking time with Mama,” and messily measures flour and sugar. But, the mess is okay, says Nicole, “I only put up with it for a few months until they gain mastery of holding the measuring cup.” She knows as she developed the twins to be self-reliant, messes for a while when they were little, but grown now to hold spoons to their mouths.
In a sense, they do what they want to do; after all, their lives are designed for them to live.
Leo is independent and plays by himself, while Nico is demanding during the day, only Mama can hold him, Nicole confides in me.
“Can I write this for the public to read?” I ask, to which she nods her head. Nico had been crying for no reason at all for days and she experimented with indulgent care first. Nothing could stop him. Then, she tried ignoring him. At the end of her patience scale, one day, she lightly spanked him, a first and her last. Empowered to speak and to express himself, Nico said, “Mama, don’t hit me.” Nicole is raising her twins with agency, with an ability to say what they need. She realized she needed to give him more patience, “I hugged him even more and told him that I have to take care of your brother. Use your words, tell me what you want – ‘Mama, I am tired.’ ‘Mama, I want carry.’”
Nicole realized that Nico really requires a lot of caressing and hugging until he is ready to play by himself. “I also no longer rush to give them breakfast in the morning [and] that it is okay for them to feel hunger. It used to be I was rushing to give them breakfast, but now, I give them milk, water, then make lunch for my husband, Jake. I prepare their breakfast as the day goes. I also found out if I go through with them the schedule of the day, that Noah is coming, (an older nephew) who likes to ride in the wagon, it becomes a relaxing day for them.”
She continued, “One time we saw a lizard and they chased that lizard for a good 15 minutes. Another time they saw bees eating the flower and so when we came inside the playroom, I had a book from the library about bees and flowers. I take them to the library once a week to socialize them with other kids. I am even more careful what books to expose them to. When we were kids, we were fortunate if we saw bees growing up. But, I take my ‘me’ time so I can be kind to Jake. It is just me lying down, meditating, staring at the ceiling or doing my exercise. I find that without that “me time”, it is a struggle to be mabait (kind and gentle). Before napping, I read them four to five books until they grow weary to take a nap. If their nap is incomplete, Nico needs extra hugs and cuddling.”
What happens if Nicole is not ready to go outside and the twins are? She sets the parameters, and says, “Wait for an hour and we can go outside.” Nico negotiates, “I can go outside, please.” The tone is a sweet one and emphasis on the ‘please.’ Nicole is firm, “But we will wait until 9:30 a.m.” She realized that it is the gentle manner, the kind medium of communications, and her sweet tone that give boundaries to the twins.
Nicole is grateful for her younger sister Mika who takes the trails with her and her twins, each one being carried as their kettlebells, except in their Gerry baby carriers.
Much like a bookmark that illustrated advice from a tree by Ilan Shamir: “Stand Tall and Proud. Sink Your Roots into the Earth. Be Content with Natural Beauty. Drink Plenty of Water. Enjoy the View,” I am certain these twins will grow to become the tallest and most abundant trees, full of positive energies to explore, trusted to have baking times with their Mama, even at tender young ages of two, including squeezing orange juice from four backyard trees to drink daily and putting ice cubes gingerly without spilling, creating the tallest legos of fire stations for their wooden trains and occasional lunch treats of chocolate ice cream cones from their dad, Jake when he can stop by, on field visit days.
Who would want to be a child in this home full of foundational love for Nature, but also the simple elegance of surroundings to be explored for each child for their milestones? Do you fill the richness of presence, understanding, patience, creativity, love and grace?
Purposeful giving is not apt to deplete one’s resources — it extends it, but it also enriches oneself, much like this mother who enjoys “growing and nurturing” her twins.
Could it be that Nicole learned it from her dad, Mon and her mom, Ann? “I just realized and I continue to witness (24/7) that the angel in our family can be a young supermom too! An epitome of love, patience, compassion, empathy, positive outlook and embracing nature – these beautiful qualities she constantly teaches and shares with Leo and Nico,” Mon, Nicole’s dad reflects.
May I add, she makes the best green matcha tea cookies and pecan tarts at Christmas.
Part II will be published in June as a continuation on Mon David as a Lolo.
[Writer’s note: Once a year, an essay competition is held at CSUN, amongst Asian American Studies and Education majors, as part of an endowment set up by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz for her deceased mother, Asuncion Castro Abarquez and her deceased sister, Rosalinda Abarquez Alcantara to provide a scholarship grant to deserving students. The essays are then reviewed and carefully vetted by a committee headed by Acting Dept. Chair Dr. Teresa Williams-Leon, Dr. Philip Hutchinson and myself as an honorary member this 2019. This year’s winning essay is from Ashlee Monton, entitled “From cultural absence to cultural presence: Why Asian American studies matter to me.”]
Upon moving to the United States from the Philippines in 2013, one of my favorite places to go to was Vons. I was fascinated by the stockpile of products in a single aisle. Never in my whole life had I ever seen so many varieties of sliced bread. It was not just the massive selection of bread that made me love Vons, but there was also this allure that came with buying American branded products.
Growing up in the Philippines, my grandmother, who moved to the United States in 2004, would send us “ balikbayan boxes” every few months or so. Meaning “box to send home,” a “ balikbayan box, ” is essentially a big package full of American goodies. Ours usually had Oreos, Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal, Nutella, and a generous amount of chocolates. We not only received food items, but we also received clothes and shoes. I remembered being so excited to wear my “imported” clothes, as we used to call them back home. These commodities were a status symbol — my status symbol, and in my Nike Air Force Ones and Abercrombie shirts, I derived my personal value. My parents were also massive American pop culture fans, so I was exposed to American shows, not Filipino shows. They listened to American music, so I listened to American music. There then became this sense of shame for consuming anything Filipino, like music, shows, literature, or delicacies. I was just simply, by default, conditioned to think that anything Filipino was not as good as American.
Despite my desire to frequent Vons at every opportunity, my parents would still constantly go to Seafood City and I couldn’t quite understand why. Why did they still feel the need to buy products from Seafood City when Vons literally had everything? It puzzled me. I did not want to admit it, but I was ruled by this thought of wanting to be more American, which meant leaving all of my Filipino heritage behind. When I would first meet people, I refrained from talking about where I came from. I did not want to be seen as a FOB. It was one of my most irrational fears upon moving here. FOB is an acronym for the term, “fresh off the boat,” generally used to describe immigrants who were quite literally, fresh off the boat from their country of origin. Usually used in a derogatory manner, being described as a FOB meant that you stuck out like a sore thumb in any setting — as if you had your country of origin’s flag tattooed on your forehead. I wanted so badly to be less Filipino as if that was even possible. It was this toxic belief that ate away my identity, which resulted in my hiding a part of myself.
The Philippines was occupied by the Spaniards for 333 years, the Americans for a few more, and the Japanese for a brief period. The hopefulness that came with our independence gradually faded over time, as is telling given the tumultuous, poverty-stricken state of our nation. For this reason, my life in the Philippines was driven by my parents’ promise of getting out and obtaining a better life. My parents ingrained this in me from the moment I was able to comprehend what anything meant. Moving to the U.S. was a given, and it was also due to the many relatives we have who were able to live better lives upon moving here. This type of conditioning that I experienced made me harbor this feeling of cynicism for living in the Philippines. It was like I was culturally absent because I never allowed myself to enjoy Filipino music, shows, movies, and literature. I was set on priming myself to be more American, which included paying more attention to news and current events in the U.S., and being more concerned about anything that had to do with American culture. I woke up every single day looking forward to leaving my home country, which fostered within me a colonial mentality. This is when one believes that the colonizer’s culture is much more superior than their own culture. As a result, they refuse to acknowledge, or take part in their own culture in an attempt to embody their colonizers. This type of thinking was something I grappled with my whole life, even more so when I moved to the United States. It was only until this semester, upon taking an Asian American Studies course, that I began to gain awareness of my own mentality contributing to the marginalization of my own people, and my own individual self.
Upon being introduced to Asian American Studies, I began to self-reflect. I started to hold myself accountable for my flawed perspective. Through my Asian American Studies course, I was introduced to the concept of Critical Race Theory, a key tenet of which is that race is a social construct, in a sense, a human invention. This means that race does not exist naturally; all the attributes that we have attached to being white, black, Asian, and in my case, Filipino, were a result of our own conceptions. Lately, I have only started to unpack the colonial mentality that I possess, and found that it is very prevalent among many Filipinos. I held so tightly to this racial identity that I wanted to have: to be more American, without even realizing that it simply does not exist. Race is a social construct, after all, and in the process of trying to suppress my Filipino heritage, I was feeding into the system that categorizes Filipinos in a derogatory way.
In “Brown Skin, White Minds,” author E.J.R. David explains that the colonial mentality among Filipinos has forced them to harbor a sense of self-hatred that has affected not just their individual perception, but the way they perceived all Filipinos. I started to realize that I was not only marginalizing my own group, but I was also taking part in that victimization. My curiosity for my own toxic behavior would have never arisen if not for my interest in Asian American Studies. It is through these courses that I’ve finally found in myself a sense of responsibility and identity. I started to be more open to talking about my heritage. As a Political Science major, I then found myself including Filipino culture in political thought pieces, essays, presentations, and other class projects. I’ve also just noticed that I have been the only Filipina in the majority of my classes, which motivated my wanting to include a Filipino voice even more. The voice that I suppressed for so long is finally taking flight.
Taking Asian American Studies has helped me acquire a unique lens and perspective on many social issues that I otherwise would not even acknowledge. I’ve begun to critically think about inclusiveness and how that affects an individual’s self-perception. Most classes I have taken simply generalized Asian Americans into one group, and it made me feel invisible. This made it harder for me to actually want to recognize my heritage. It also did not help that in the academic spaces that I have been in, Filipinos were largely invisible in terms of the readings and material. I realized that, for most of my life, I’ve been contributing to the invisibility of my people, and especially, of myself, by being culturally absent, and synonymously, having a distaste for my own heritage. It was through Asian American Studies that I have had the chance to reclaim my identity, one that was always present in me, but never acknowledged.
Looking back now, I do not blame myself for thinking how I used to think, nor do I resent my parents for raising me the way that they did. I realize that there are plenty of other Filipinos who are exactly like the person I was before, and it is my hope that they can find themselves. For me, I found myself in Asian American Studies. No longer did I feel the need to hide the three stars and the sun on my forehead or to question my parents’ choice in frequenting Seafood City rather than Vons. Asian American Studies made me come back to my roots, and helped me realize who I truly was, and be proud of it. As I go further into my education and my journey to graduate school, I am making it my personal mission to make space for Filipinos in every social, political, economic aspect in this society.
This is my way of making up for all those years of being culturally absent — by being culturally present in the most utterly obnoxious way possible. This is me giving back to my people, and giving back to Asian American Studies for leading me back home.
When you are your whole self/ intact with body, mind and soul/The divine spirit of work flows through your being/Just close your eyes and listen in deep silence/And you shall hear an inner voice/always urging you to complete your unfinished tasks/And always challenging you /to put all your heart in your work.
Fernando A. Bernardo, “The Silent Voice of Your Soul,” 2003.
Our children can lead us into authenticity because they intuitively know how to be. They intuitively know how to live within their body and respond to their spirit. They are fully aware of the need to meet reality as it presents itself and are able to respond in a manner that we adults often aren’t. This is why it’s from our children that we can learn how to really live.
Cover Photo: Lisa Bonta Sumii (left), Cynthia Bonta (center) and Malaya Sumii (right) — three generations of Bonta women who volunteered at the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California’s 2018 medical mission, coordinated by Dr. Marlene Cordero. | Photo taken by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz.
More photos here.
When you say mothers and daughters, one imagines sacrifice, struggle and tears in their relationships. From the time of labor — at times three days for some mothers to long hours of birthing, to nurturing the daughter to become an empowered woman with gentleness and compassion and then, becoming best friends to one another — one can say that the relationship of mothers to their daughters is a complex one.
But, it is layered with many levels of humanity and with all the emotions a human being can feel. And with granddaughters, all is about overflowing joy, a mutuality of love and affirmation!
For Cynthia Bonta, a tireless activist for social justice, her life is not limited to just parenting her three children (Lisa, Rob and Marcelo).
Nor is it grandparenting her seven grandchildren, whom she personally took care of, while their parents worked, or kept tabs of them growing up — among them becoming an accomplished ballet dancer, sports athlete and even a sultry jazz singer with an a capella group at Yale University.
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With a state agency’s professional career prior to her retirement, she is also an activist tireless for social change, whether it is against the Marcos dictatorship to restore human rights and democracy in the Philippines, to curriculum reform in the California schools to include people of color’s histories and contributions of building civic lives in America, to today’s tenants’ struggle for reasonable rent control in the Bay Area.
Cynthia’s life is more than about herself. She looks for folks willing to receive, her mentees, and for whom she can pass on her wisdom, and together, contribute to social causes. She founded the Philippine National Day Association (PNDA) and as an organization mentors middle and high school students in Sacramento on how to become passionate leaders of change and inspiring examples of leaders who care for others.
Can you imagine a SHEro who has made a life of more than five decades of noble altruism? Noble, in the sense of selflessness, and without self-created benefits and altruism, which means giving one’s life to help others. As I write this, I can think of two women icons, Grace Lee Boggs and Dolores Huerta, who both are lifelong progressive activists for social change.
Even at 80 years old, Cynthia has not slowed down. Last year, around August, she received the highest award bestowed to an alumnus of Silliman University, the Outstanding Sillimanian award, for her many lifelong contributions. A banner greeted her at Dumaguete airport congratulating her for this Sillimanian award.
An opening theater play greeted all the returning Sillimanians on Saturday, followed by a worship hour in their beautiful church the next Sunday morning and a two-mile long parade, with all the floats built by students and their teachers in different colleges. That was just the start of the weekend.
It was followed by driving her through the parade in an electric car, and the next day, full regalia of color guards’ formation saluted her, as she alighted her special vehicle.
It was a parade normally given to heads of state, yet, here was Cynthia, an octogenarian, validated for what she has done for Dumaguete and Silliman University, and of course in California.
In January 2017, as Alameda Sister City’s vice president, she headed the Alameda-Dumaguete Sister City Committee, which enabled the 170 volunteers of the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California (PMSNC) to provide medical, surgical, dental, ophthalmological services to over 9,000 residents of Dumaguete.
There was such an organized mobilization of local resources given the logistical and local support of then-Dumaguete Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria, now a Philippine Congress representative.
2018 PMSNC’s medical mission in Santa Barbara, Iloilo In 2018, we find Cynthia with her daughter Lisa Bonta Sumii, a psychotherapist by profession, and her granddaughter, Malaya Sumii, an 11-year-old 5th grader in California who took off two weeks to join the 2018 medical mission in Iloilo and a side trip to Dumaguete.
Cynthia helped with dispensing pharmaceuticals based on physicians’ prescriptions and facilitated a wellness seminar led by Enrique Dela Cruz for barangay health workers.
Lisa and Malaya became part of the dental team. All volunteers paid their own way to go to the mission. I sat down with mother and daughter for an interview, my first time to meet them, and I had a chance to observe them.
Dr. Jeremy Velasco brought not only his own dental tools, stuffed toys but also paid for his two dental staffers to travel and to work all five days.
Some of the PMSNC volunteers, who traveled from Northern California, Southern California, Chicago and other parts of the U.S. | Photo taken by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz
With this cohesive and patient-focused team, 456 dental patients in Santa Barbara, Iloilo were attended to in five days, and their rotten teeth extracted.
Implicit trust amongst professionals and volunteers is the underlying ingredient of effective medical mission teamwork and successful outcomes, which I saw in the surgical team after I observed the outpatient department.
Lisa and Malaya were assigned to help Velasco (a practicing dentist) and Mila Viernes, a registered nurse with dental expertise. Malaya had a simple task: to write down the name of the patient, and the tooth to be extracted, the exact number called out by the dentist on a dental form and then, verified by the dental assistant. She also circled out the correct dose of antibiotics and pain medications.
Malaya stayed focused and at times, did not even take breaks. When I asked where her strong work ethic came from, Lisa credited it to the long hours of being on a softball team. “Being a player helps Malaya with focus and endurance,” she said.
Lisa, a psychotherapist, helped in counseling the patients before the rotten tooth was removed. She said: “Often, I would comfort the mother of the child who was getting a tooth extracted. Other times, I would simply put her hand on the shoulder or the leg of the child or adult and tell them everything was going to be ok.”
There was one mother who was determined for her young daughter, of maybe 9 or 10 years old, to have a few of her teeth extracted. Lisa recalled the girl who “kicked, screamed, and protesting, verbally and physically.” She continued, “I directed them away from the dental area and reassured the girl everything was going to be fine, nothing has to happen right now. She offered the option, to the mother, to maybe return tomorrow to try again, but that it might be a little too much for her daughter to take, today. She nodded and agreed. They left the mission, for that day, arm in arm. They returned the next day, for a successful and positive experience.”
To those who were brave, Lisa held the jaw and after the extraction, she gave the child a stuffed toy or hand-me-down clothes from Malaya’s brother, Jaxon. One patient got so excited, he took off his clothes and paraded in his newly donated shirt and pants.
But, one patient kept crying and could not calm down. Velasco assured him it was okay to come back. A half hour later, he came back, braver, and without tears, submitted to the dental extraction, and smiled when he got his stuffed toy.
Lisa and Malaya gained the team’s trust and both got to do more tasks. Lisa got to hold the hammer while Mila, the nurse with dental expertise chiseled the tooth off the jaw. Why? These patients ate sugar cane and the sugar cane fibers got embedded into their jaws and without tooth cleaning, bacteria proliferated.
The rotten tooth had to be dislodged using chisel and hammer and of course, anesthesia injections to numb the spots. Can you imagine Lisa, with no prior dental experience, now trusted to help out with complex molar extractions?
After Malaya’s stint in the dental station, she assisted pediatrics and later, the respiratory station, and using a stethoscope, she heard the abnormal breathing of lungs filled with mucus, and after nebulizer treatment, lungs got clear. She would proactively guide patients into the respiratory station, as she could spot those who could not breathe.
“Helping patients with respiratory needs was especially interesting, as she has asthma herself and as a younger girl, often needed nebulizer treatments,” Lisa said.
Cultural insights and feedback on their volunteer experiences
Some of the Iloilo residents waiting for triage, then, referrals for surgical, dental, medical and ophthalmological services by PMSNC in conjunction with local and provincial health professionals and hospitals. | Photo taken by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz
Cynthia shared that Lisa spent long summers during her middle and high school years with her Ninang Sylvia (Cynthia’s older sister) and cousins Bambi and Tinky in Los Baños. That cultural immersion gave Lisa an in-depth understanding of the Filipino native culture.
Lisa shares her insights about the medical mission: “Brown saving brown. You see brown professionals in the medical and dental areas, while in the U.S., white professionals serving brown in the medical area, which gives rise to this ‘savior’ mentality amongst white groups of rescuing brown people.”
She contrasted her experience of not seeing immediate results, as a psychotherapist with a private practice in Oakland.
“Here you see immediate results,” while Malaya blurts out her affirmation: “Mommy, you could have been a very good dentist.”
Malaya texted her best friends, Mave and Ella, in California: “how different the lifestyle was [in Iloilo]. I like that instead of using salt, sugar and catsup, they were using their natural resources, bananas. Also, cows, goats (which Malaya saw in nearby farms) I like that there are not so many buildings and many more houses. And they have a song for everything.”
Mom then hummed the song lines, “Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara.” Her role was to calm the patients: “You see the tooth come out, you touch them, and reassure them.”
Lisa distinguished the qualities of Filipinos born in the Philippines who are down to earth, with humility, and a simple way of being, while Filipino-Americans worry about too many things, take things so seriously. Yet, she sensed that their cultural differences fall away and become one, as they worked for the medical mission: focused on being kind, on being loving, and being able to take care of “the other,” the patient in need.
As to where the motivation comes from, Cynthia shared that “it was the mother-daughter’s combined passion that took them to volunteer for such a serious mission — to bring health care to helpless countrymen (kababayans) — supported by Dad, Aron who stayed home with Jaxon. I did not suggest nor tell them to do the medical mission. It was Malaya that was strongly and adventurously for the idea as soon as I got back from the Dumaguete Mission in 2017.”
“Malaya said to me proudly, ‘My best experience was with the dental station. It is nothing to me anymore to look into mouths with rotten teeth and smell the blood mixed with their bad breath.’ I was emotionally impressed with this as I do not think I could do it myself,” Cynthia added.
As to what the medical mission meant for Lisa, she said, “It’s such a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to the Philippines and participate in this medical mission with my mother and my daughter. Something I never really imagined could happen. Three generations working together for a common cause, in spite of the generational gap. Each of us have our own inner motivation and commitment. The pride I have for my people does not exclude how proud I am of them both.”
Do you readers get a sense of how Malaya is being raised with positivity and excellent examples of humane women around her, primarily her mom and her grandmother? At one point, this writer told Malaya, “Oh how I love your fresh eyes of seeing the Filipinos!”
Cynthia underscored that “it was Lisa’s thoughtful support for her daughter, Malaya, providing her the guidance in positively processing her experiences in a strange and new place and culture was an important factor in making such a strong impact on Malaya.
As a mother (seeing Lisa in demand to assist complex molar extractions and even ended up suturing gums), this showed strong surrender to the commitment to be of help wherever needed. And as a grandmother, I am very impressed, very proud and very moved.”
I dare to say it was the best version of humanity that Cynthia was describing but also, because in her family, being kind and being helpful to others are second nature to them.
It has been passed on from her Cynthia, into their bloodlines, and now, Lisa, her daughter and Malaya, her granddaughter, who are better versions of themselves, for the next generations to come.
It is a great testament that Cynthia’s lifelong service to others has become what mom and daughter choose to do for themselves, as well.
This March, Women’s History Month, I cannot think of a fitting tribute than to spotlight these three women and a young girl who are servant leaders! I salute them!
