Fortaleza's finds

Ric Fortaleza has not rested since bringing two raw Fil-Aussie boxers here for the SMART-ABAP National Open Amateur Boxing Championships in Bacolod seven months ago. Since his return to his new base of New South Wales, Australia, the former Olympian has been busy recruiting and training Filipinos and second-generation Filipino fighters there to help support the country’s dream of an Olympic gold medal.

Ric was one of the four brothers who ruled Philippine amateur boxing from the late 1960’s to late 1970’s. His youngest brother Roger eventually became secretary-general of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines under former president Manny Lopez, and is now supervising the technical side of officiating and judging for ABAP. As a bantamweight, Ric won a gold medal in the first Asian Youth Championships in Tokyo, and followed up with success at the Asian Games in Bangkok. He was also Philippine National Games champion five years running. In 1986, Fortaleza introduced amateur boxing in Oman, helping its team qualify for the Seoul Olympics, where he witnessed another countryman, Leopoldo Serrantes, come within whiffing distance of his own gold medal dream.The 1972 Olympian passionately feels he still has a mission unfulfilled from when he was a fresh-faced 21-year old in Munich.

“I’ve always wanted to give an Olympic gold medal to our country, and that dream has not died,” Fortaleza told this writer. “Now, I’m excited because of the talent I’ve found here in Australia. I feel I can still deliver on my promise, through one of my students.”

Fortalzea now runs the Blacktown Hit Squad (BHS), a very popular boxing group in New South Wales. They are staging the “1st BHS Amateur Boxing Fight Night – 10 bouts” on July 25 at the BHS Boxing Gym located on 3rd Avenue in Blacktown. Highlight of this event is the fight of 17-year old Filipino-Australian Robin Palileo from Lalor Park. The 57-kilogram Palileo is the 2008 New South Wales PCYC-ABA State champion and Australian Open runner-up. In January, Palileo bagged the gold medal in his weight class at the SMART/ABAP National Open. The event will also be the public debut of another Fil-Aussie, 60-kilogram Christian Stephen Del Villar. Other members of BHS team who are slated to fight are all NSW State champions. Scheduled to fight on that night are 60-kilogram Michael Hudson and 64-kilogram Bazhir Sadiq. Sadiq also joined the Bacolod joust, and acquitted himself quite well.

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Here is an update on the wrongful deportation case of former ABS-CBN courtside reporter Rheena Villamor and her sister Maryann. If you recall, in October of 2007, the two were en route to Chicago for a six-month vacation as a graduation gift to Maryann from their parents, who have been working for the Asian Development Bank for many years. Upon their arrival at their point of entry of Detroit, the two young ladies were off-loaded from the plane, separated, and interrogated by immigration officers for four hours. They were being forced to admit that they were illegally seeking employment in the US.

“They even searched our luggage and email addresses if we had resumes hidden there,” Rheena recalls. “However, to their dismay they didn’t find any. We were even threatened that we can go to jail. So after all the long hours of interrogation, they decided that we just had to withdraw our admission in the US without even evidence of what they were accusing us.”

As soon as the humiliated sisters were tearfully returned to Manila against their will, they filed a complaint with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In March of 2009, the Villamors received a letter from the DHS stating that they “are not indefinitely barred from entering the US and need to reapply again for visa”.

The letter, signed by Maureen Dugan, acting executive director of Admissibility of Passenger Programs in the Office of Field Operations of the DHS, said “Occasionally, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) may inconvenience law-abiding citizens in our efforts to deter, detect and mitigate threats to our homeland...We rely on the patience, cooperation and understanding of traveler to ensure the effective protection of our borders.”

The letter did include a vague apology: “Please allow me to express regret for any conduct that may have been perceived as rude or unprofessional...” The young ladies’ underwear was even waved around after one of their suitcases was forced open, damaging it. One of the immigration officers arrogantly ate a sandwich while interrogating them. Despite their being in tears and unaccompanied, they were not immediately allowed to phone their aunt in Chicago who was waiting for them. This was not a matter of perception. It happened, and it was a traumatic experience, especially for Maryann, who was a first-time traveler to the US. Furthermore, the letter says that they “did not overcome all grounds of inadmissibility” and required the Villamors to apply again for a US visa, despite the fact that they had been proven to do no wrong.

In the meantime, Rheena has been seeking employment on international cruise liners, one of her lifelong dreams is to be a seafarer.

“This really affected me because I tried already twice to get a C1 visa for my job in the international cruise. However, they keep giving me lame excuses,” Rheena explained. “The last time, they told me to get shipboard experience first, which I did. And just recently, they told me that I need to establish my socio-economic ties and family ties here. I told the consul that I have my bank account here, my family have properties here, etc. I even had complete papers from my principal in the cruise ship and I have been highly recommended by the Crewing Manager and our Trainers. I had this thought that they might be taking it against me. Still I wanted to pursue my dreams, just like my cousins who are also seafarers.”