NEW YORK—Dana Siton, 62, is taking her day off as a housekeeper of an upscale Manhattan apartment today. But unlike her other Tuesdays, she joins more than two million Filipino-Americans nationwide to vote for the next US president.
“This is my second time to vote for president and I’m excited,” Siton, a naturalized citizen who immigrated to the United States in 1992, said in a mix of English and Tagalog. “Although this year, the election seems crucial.”
With a volatile stock market, low consumer confidence, record unemployment and an upsurge in mortgage foreclosures, the stakes are high in choosing who between Barack Obama and John McCain can lead the country away from an impending recession.
“The economy is in a bad state these days,” Siton said, adding the economy is her top concern. A former Math teacher in Manila, Siton works in the city five days a week and spends the rest in a suburban house in Long Island where she lives and shares a 30-year mortgage on it with her son and his family.
She worries about other immigrant families who are just starting to finance their first home.
“Even if salaries are high, when one family member loses a job, it would be difficult to meet mortgage payments,” she said.
In Queens, a neighborhood heavily populated by Filipino immigrants, Siton’s sentiments are clearly echoed.
“Business is slow,” grumbled Elsa Ansale, 63, a hair salon owner on Roosevelt Avenue.
“Customers come for just a simple haircut or, lately, do not come at all,” she said of her mostly Filipino clientele.
“I am more worried about my job than my hair these days,” said Gretchen Gajelonia, 31, an accountant who was recently hired at a nearby publishing house. “Being new in a job in a bad economy is not exactly reassuring.”
In a Gallup Poll released last month, Filipino-Americans preferred McCain over Obama by 8 percentage points. According to the poll, 66 percent of Fil-Ams approved of the current US leadership.
But for many Filipino-Americans, the preference is a matter of faith.
“Most Filipino-American voters, especially senior ones who belong to the older generation, have votes anchored on Christian beliefs,” explained Philippine American Press Club president Charito Benipayo.
