Filam women flex muscle in DC meet

November 25, 2007  --  Got something to say?
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Top 100 Filipina
WASHINGTON D.C. Filipino American leaders from across the US met here Oct.25-27 to honor the most influential Filipino women in the US which coincided with the celebration of Filipino Heritage Month.

The three-day Fifth Annual Filipina summit, which had for its theme Filipina Voices: Changing the Face of Power in America, was aimed at accelerating the Filipina Womens Network (FWN) vision for Filipinas to take on leadership roles.
h Annual Filipina Summit, a three-day event that aimed to accelerate the organizations vision for Filipinas to take on leadership roles. (You may access the complete list by going to the FWNs website.)

The top 100 were selected from a list of over 200 nominees, from Arizona to Washington on six categories, namely founders and pioneers, policymakers and visionaries, innovators and thought leaders, builders and emerging leaders, behind the scenes leaders, and Nicole. It was not explained why the Nicole category was included. Nicole was the Filipina who was raped by a US Marine deployed in the Philippines for the 2005 joint war exercise.

At the summits opening session at the Rayburn House building, Gloria Caoile, co-founder and executive director of APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance) challenged the gathering to step forward and become advocates.

Caoile urged Filipino women to help bring into focus the communitys agenda, including support for the equity bill for surviving World War II veterans, affordable housing and medical care.

Our agenda parallels America. We want our communities to be safe, our young adults to be free from drugs, crime and violence. We want good educational institutions so that our kids can compete in the global economy. We want our families to be stable, free from domestic abuse, gainfully employed, healthy and contented,” Caoile said.

When you trigger something, you start a motion that then goes on to bigger and better things. Dont stop believing in yourself. Dont stop believing that you can make great contributions. And for heavens sake, dont let anybody intimidate you. Dont let anybody make you shy away from standing on a podium and saying what you want to say,” she told delegates.

Caoile said Filipinas in the US should exercise their right to vote at every opportunity so that they are not shortchanging themselves, their families and communities.

Access equals influence, influence equals power. If our communities vote, we count,” Caoile said. Caoile, co-founder of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), was also formerly a member of the White House Commission of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.

The gala where recognition awards were presented to the Top 10 was held Oct. 25 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington D.C.
FWN hopes to that the nominees will meet again in womantor in 2012 to celebrate their parnership, a culmination of our shaping the Filipina Image Campaign.


Posted by News Team | Filed Under Articles/Stories 

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