There is still time for all please to try to get fellow Filipinos or non-Filipino supporters to make that crucial, very helpful call for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to the US State Department Comment Line at 202-647-6575 before or by Thursday, March 27, US time.
To reiterate, "people can call that message board even before March 27 but an extra effort should be made to call in on March 27. After a voice message is heard, press: 4 for operator, then ask for the comment line, and then leave the following suggested message: "Temporary Protected Status for the Philippines must be designated. I urge Secretary of State John Kerry to recommend to the Department of Homeland Security that TPS be designated for the Philippines. My name is (say name) from (say city and state)."
If granted, TPS will allow our Filipinos to stay (approximately 200,000 Filipinos in the United States who are currently out of status - including the so-called TNTs (tago nang tago) and to continue supporting their families and kababayans back in the Philippines, especially those affected by Typhoon Yolanda( Haiyan) and the earthquakes.
As we pray for positive response related to the TPS request for our Filipino migrants in the US, let us also continue to pray, pray, pray together for definite closure soon for the families of the passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.
No one can easily accept the message that the plane crashed and all were killed, without any clear proof that this is really what happened.
Even when there is evidence of death, it is still not that easy to accept the finality of that reality.
This is what I personally experienced after the doctors and the rest of the medical staff announced that our Papa, Leoncio C. Piquero, was dead. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and an hour or two after everyone left and I was alone with Papa before they took him from his deathbed, I was still praying, praying, praying and raising my hopes and petitions to the Lord to bring Papa back to us, for Papa to breathe again and stay longer with us! Against all proof of physical death, even with Papa's dead body beside me, I was still hoping against hope for a miracle from the Lord, for God to once again allow Papa to take that crucial breath of life again.
And so, seeing the anguished faces of the families of Flight 370, to those who have experienced moments like what the Flight 370 families are experiencing now, it is very understandable why they refuse to accept the statement that all have been killed when the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Until and even with future physical proof of death, it will take a long, painful period and process for final closure, if this comes at all. Even if confirmed evidence of the plane are discovered, until there is physical proof of their family members are shown to them, or despite proof before their eyes, sadly and painfully, the families will need so much more time before grief turns to acceptance and resignation and final closure. The pain and grief are so agonizingly real and unbearable. How long can they bear and not break down themselves? Our hearts and prayers go to each and every member of the families of the passengers and crew of this tragic Flight 370.
So many questions left unanswered. So much efforts to piece together the complete story about what truly happened to this flight. Again, more prayers as well needed for confirmed debris to be discovered soon, for passengers and crew, dead or alive to be rescued and recovered.
So much drama awaiting, hopefully, a positive, happier end please especially for the families of those in Flight 370. The sooner the better too, and again, we all need to pray together for this drama to end soonest please.
Against all odds, hearing previous experiences of plane crash recovery efforts in the past that took so much considerable time, extending to years even, let us pray for the miracle from the Lord to allow for earlier rescue and recovery and sooner final closure for all related to this painfully sad drama of Flight 370, so that tears will cease, and all can move on soonest.
Email: cherryb_thefreeman@yahoo.com