UniPro Initiatives and Programs

Emerging Leader: Ivin Dysangco

IvinAge: 25 Hometown: Lucban, Quezon, Philippines Current residence: Pensacola, Florida United States Naval Academy, 2012 Information Technology major

Meet Ivin Dysancgo, a naval flight officer in the US Navy. He is currently completing training in Pensacola – this involves acquiring flight hours in various types of aircraft and learning navigation, emergency procedure and other technological support for pilots. A typical workday may start as early as 3:00AM, and usually lasts for twelve hours. Despite the high levels of stress associated with his job, he enjoys it.

“It’s amazing being in the air. If I see something [interesting] from the air, I try to drive there later to see what it looks like on the ground,” Dysangco explains with some laughter. He hopes to work with special forces or the Coast Guard upon completing training.

Involvement in the Fil-Am community After attending the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) in Newport, Rhode Island, he went to the Naval Academy, where he studied IT, engineering, navigation, leadership, and military law. Aside from academics, Dysangco and his friends sought out a Filipino community to get involved with. While at NAPS, they learned about the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND) and decided to drive a total of 16 hours over a weekend to attend the conference in Maryland. While there, they networked with UniPro and other Fil-Am leaders.

“Once we got to the Academy, we looked for a Filipino group. But, it wasn’t as active as we wanted to be. So, we restarted the club,” Dysanco explains.

Dysangco and his friends wanted the freshmen to get involved early, so they could network and become leaders for the organization. So, they’d send them as delegates to attend FIND and other related events. In order to get the community involved, they invited the Filipina aunties that worked in the galley to their meetings. The midshipmen (a term for ‘students’ at the Academy) shared the things they missed from home, including Filipino food. Soon, the aunties were bringing Filipino dishes to their events.

“We’d go in the back kitchen and there would be a lot of Filipinos and food there,” Dysangco adds proudly. The revamped organization now welcomes all members from the community, not just students. They have a Naval Officer representative as a member, who invites midshipmen over for home-cooked meals. They’ve hosted guest speakers, including one of the highest-ranking Filipino-American officers, to talk about life as a Fil-Am in the Navy.

A passion for photography

In addition to getting involved with the Fil-Am community at the Academy, he also developed a love for photography.

Shortly after a visit to the White House with his sponsor family, which resulted in poorly photographed photos as keepsakes, Dysangco decided he wanted to be able to take nice photos. So, he invested in a better quality camera and began taking photos of buildings. He then reached out to the USNA Public Affairs Office at the Academy, and was taken under the chief officer’s wing. He has photographed important meetings and events with government officials, including the Secretaries of Defense and the Navy, admirals and generals.

“If you’re in public affairs, you get full access to anything. So, it made it easier to talk to those big people,” Dysangco notes. His photography career has since expanded to fashion and portrait photography.

“When you’re taking photos, you get to meet interesting people and travel,” Dysangco adds. He’s thankful for his passion for photography, because it has allowed him to network with many people to discuss their mistakes and advice. One influential individual, the former Commandant of the Naval Academy, offered him some quite memorable advice.

“He told me, ‘respect everyone that you meet, because you don’t know where they’ve been or where they came from,’” Dysangco reflects. He admires the Commandant for his approachability and understanding of students, despite having a high rank in comparison to midshipmen attending the academy.

Advice for fellow Fil-Ams and Pilipinos Dysangco is glad he has found a way to fit his interests into his career in the Navy. He notes that with photography, he’s been able to travel and see things that people don’t typically get to see. He views his job as a naval flight officer as a form of photography too, as he gets to travel and see spectacular views from the air; he especially loves flying during sunset. From all of his experiences thus far, he offers the following advice to other emerging leaders.

“Whatever you do, don’t think about the money. Choose a job that you enjoy. Try to find something [where] every time you go, it doesn’t feel like a job. If you have a passion for it, then your passion is going to take care of you.”

Photo credit: Oreo Ortega

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Isang Gabi ng Harana: A Taste of Filipino Romance

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This Friday, October 11, 2013, PAGASA is hosting a cultural event that celebrates the disappearing art of harana, or serenade, in the Philippines. A language all its own, it represents the courtship culture of our lolos and lolas. UniPro will be co-sponsoring the event; see you there! GABI NG HARANA FLYER 444

Featuring Alma May Dalida-Hackett, Joseph Legaspi, Anthony Lim, Katrina Saporsantos Benjie Dia, Bambi Diaz, Veronica Trono-Stampfl, and Ang Tatlong Rondalistas. Directed by Herbert Go.

For tickets, please contact Consuelo Almonte at (718) 849-5204, or connie_almonte@yahoo.com. $35 (student admission), $45 (regular admission)

Where: Philippine Consulate, 556 5th Avenue, NYC When: Reception, 6-7PM | Program, 7:15PM.

Photo credit: PAGASA

A Speech on the Tragic Cost of Higher Education in the Philippines

Note from the Editor: Therese Franceazca Balagtas is one of UniPro’s interns for the summer. At our recent Staff Development Workshop, she delivered a speech on the “UniIssue” of education in the Philippines. Read on to see her thoughtful take on the controversial topic.- by Therese Franceazca Balagtas

IMG001f Sixty thousand pesos – That is the average annual cost of tuition for a student entering college in the Philippines. You can expect a high school graduate entering his/her first year of college to shell out somewhere between thirty thousand to up to ninety thousand pesos just for tuition alone.

When you ask Filipino parents about their dreams for their children, an inevitable answer would be to be able to send them to school and finish their education. This isn’t surprising most especially because the Philippines is a nation that values education. For Filipinos, education is a prized possession and a college diploma is one’s ticket to a better life. So it should also come to no surprise that many Filipino parents go beyond their means in order to give their children a decent education.

Unfortunately, in the Philippines, higher education comes with a hefty price tag. Private schools are notorious for their constant increase in tuition costs mainly because they are profit driven institutions. But even state-run universities and colleges have a difficult time providing financial support to students due to the shrinking financial funding from the government. This makes the costs of higher education stiff for many Filipino households. You’re probably wondering, how about the public school system, isn’t that free and subsidized by the government? Yes that’s true, public schools are subsidized by the government and can be attained for free or at a very low cost. However, the public schooling system only applies to grade school through high school, which means that for a college education it is expected for the student and his/her family to bear the full cost.

Earlier this year, Kristel Tejada, a student from the University of the Philippines-Manila committed suicide after she could no longer fund her own education at the university and after being humiliated due to her incapacity to do so. It is unfortunate for a student to take her own life simply because she couldn’t afford her own education. It is even more upsetting because the University of the Philippines is a state university known for their “Iskolar ng Bayan” (national scholars), and their supposed higher sensitivity for aiding students from less advantaged sectors possessing academic merit and potential.

Regrettably, her suicide is just a symptom of a larger crisis affecting the country’s educational system. Many educational institutions are notorious for implementing a tuition installment plan, which strategically places payment due dates right before exam time. These plans delay and sometimes even prevent students from taking important exams because they are unable to pay their tuition on time. During the time I spent studying in the Philippines, I’ve seen parents and students alike ask for an extension come exam time because they simply couldn’t scrape together funds to be able to pay their tuition in time for exams.

The sad truth is, many Filipino students discover at some point in their college career that they are no longer able to afford tuition. That being said, they either end up transferring to a sub-par institution or drop out of college altogether. I think the youth should not be denied access to a college education simply because of financial constraints. The government should be able to invest more in student loan programs and full scholarships, which in turn give qualified recipients a clear shot at earning their degrees. They should also keep in mind compassion for deserving students from the bottom of the nation’s economic tiers. Consider the possibility of more young people who are better trained at skills and professions because they were given the opportunity to earn a college degree. Consider the possibility of parents less burdened by the high cost of education. Think about what that could possibly do to make our society better.

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Uncovering the Truth about 'Kopinos'

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In Seoul, South Korea, there’s a red light district called Hooker Hill. It is located in Itaewon, a tourist area filled with shops and restaurants catering mostly to ex-pats and foreigners. It is also very close to U.S. Army Youngsan Garrison Base. Young women seeking work in the region become victims of sex slavery and trafficking. Unfortunately, many of the sex workers at Hooker Hill are Pilipina women who were lured to South Korea for work. While I was in Korea a couple months ago, friends recommended that I keep a low profile when discussing my identity while in Seoul, as young Pilipina women are viewed as low-class citizens among Koreans. This was a harsh reality to come to terms with, for it is both disappointing and infuriating that such a skewed image could be associated with my fellow Pilipinas.

After returning from my trip to Korea, I learned about another connection between the Philippines and Korea that I had not been aware of.

In the Philippines, there is a growing population of Kopinos, with estimates of over 10,000 people. The term ‘Kopino’, coined for individuals who are Korean-Filipino, describes those who are born as a result of the sex tourism industry in the Philippines.

The Korean fathers, who visit the Philippines as tourists, seek out Filipina prostitutes during their stay and then return home. Sometimes, they leave after finding out their partner is pregnant, or are not even aware that they have fathered a child. Often, these Filipina mothers are impoverished teenagers, who have resorted to prostitution as a last resort.

A single Filipina mother and her Korean-Filipino son

Their Kopino children then grow up without a father, and are doomed to face the same realities that their mothers do. Similar to the ‘Amerasian’ (born to US military fathers and Filipino mothers) and ‘Japino’ children in the Philippines, Kopinos experience abandonment early on in their childhood, and are subjected to harsh living conditions and society condemnation. Many are then forced into sex tourism and human trafficking in order to survive, thus making this cyclical reality difficult to stop.

According to an article release by PhilStar earlier this year, nearly half a million Filipinos work as prostitutes within their own country. Other women in the tourism industry, who become mothers to Kopino children, work in guest relations or as bar girls. With the increase of Korean tourists in the Philippines over the past few years, this this problem is becoming increasingly more common.

So why is this relevant to us Fil-Ams?

Today, Korean-Filipinos and supporters are working on a campaign to contact the fathers who left their children behind. These efforts are raising awareness on this issue in the Philippines and in South Korea. Activists are working hard to get these Korean fathers to take responsibility for their children. Some organizations that have been advocating for this issue include TACTEEN, which focuses on eliminating exploitation of Filipino children by Korean tourists, and ECPAT, which works to end child prostitution, pornography and trafficking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BQcZMcCdPc

However, their efforts alone cannot change what Kopinos and their mothers face, and will continue to face in the future. While the efforts of these organizations are being portrayed in the Philippines and Korean media, the support it garners is not enough. The tourism industry continues to overlook the issue, so it is rather difficult to enact substantial change.

As members of the greater Pilipino community, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on this issue. Be it by helping to spread awareness or getting involved in human rights initiatives, we must be active citizens and fight for those who are born into situations beyond their control.

Photo credit: Korea Bang