My family has a huge landlord – tenancy problem. My parents are the landlords. My cousin and her hubby would like to reside there because why not… We have “verbally” given notice to the tenant last March 15 that they should vacate the house by May 31 . My father again reminded the tenant about this yesterday… but the tenant said ” this is her house. See you in court,” then closed the door on Dad’s face.
This is the situation. The original tenants ( 2 ) who signed the lease had moved out in 2010. We didn’t even know they had taken in a roommate. The roommate who was left behind had asked for permission to live in the house. My parents okayed it, but unfortunately , they didn’ t make a new lease agreement. The reason…smooth transition. In other words, it’s a gentleman’s agreement… with a handshake and a smile.
My dad is now writing a formal written notice … the tenant threatened us with a lawsuit, and that would cost us at least $10,000. My father cried because he had been good and patient with her. She has NEVER paid on time, ( always one month late ) and more often than not, it isn’t even a full payment at the end of the month. ( We also pay the garbage fees and water )
Please,is there anyone of my readers who knows about this stuff ?
Last week , a Filipino co-worker asked me if I had ever encountered an official California document where Filipinos have to choose, identify and check their ethnicity off the following list: Asian, Pacific Islander, Filipino, Other. I said yes, I had, when I applied for a driver’s license, so Dennis, what’s wrong with it ? ” Look, Ren, aren’t we Asian ? ” ( By the way, Dennis is half Italian-American, half Filipino but identifies himself as Filipino. He was also born in the Philippines. )
Anyway, I was confused. I didn’t know what to make of it. I did some research about this issue, and what I learned surprised me. I do know about the Pacific Islander thing, but it’s never been an issue to me. But, why are Filipinos in a separate group ? Filipinos are Asians. To think otherwise is just so ignorant and stupid. Just look at the map.
Here’s something that I found on YouTube. Warning ! This video is highly inaccurate ( nevertheless , very informative ) because the person on the video delves more on Chinese heritage rather than the more accurate Indonesian -Malays who are actually the original settlers of the country. Heck, we cannot even tell a Malaysian, Indonesian, and Filipino apart… and yes, the Filipino language is very similar to Malaysian and Indonesian languages. Ex: Thank you is Salamat in Filipino and Selamatin Indonesian. ( Although about 40% of Filipino language is Spanish or has Spanish roots. Filipinos even tell time in Spanish .) Filipino historians say Filipinos are of Malay-Indo- Polynesian race. It’s true there was an extensive trading with the Chinese, and I’m sure there were intermixing of genes at one point. That’s a given. Heck, according to 23andMe ancestry, a part of my DNA belongs to Chinese Haplo-group.
Is it because of Filipino culture and its shared heritage , history and culture with Mexico ? Heck, both the Philippines and Mexico even call their money Pesos. In fact, at one point in Mexican and Philippine history, the Philippines was considered a province of Mexico. I was surprised to learn that the Filipino words for mother and father , Nanay and Tatay , tiangue/ palengke ( markets ) and which I’m sure all Filipinos consider pure unadulterated Filipino words, are actually Nathual in origin , an ancient Mexican language.
Anyway, I think I should write more about Filipino identity . There are more than 4 million Filipinos in the US, and this number does not even include half-Filipinos who identify their ethnicity as Filipino, like my co-worker Dennis, and Bruno Mars… or the wrestler Batista. Batista’s arm is tattoed with Philippine map, ha ha. That number is more than the population of Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese combined . Filipinos are not invisible here in the US, neither here nor there. Not all Asians look like Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese, you know . Look at Indians…they are Asians, too.
Okay, this is all for now from a pissed off Asian. Bye and peace.
Random thoughts, musings; click image
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin.
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko