The candidates – Gene Alcantara, Haroon Saad, Jan Janananayagam, Steven Cheung and Sohale Rahman – held a press conference this week, but have been ignored by the media. 

We live in a wealthy country and fair society where most things are laid out and made easy for us. Unfortunately, a lot of our current politicians are ‘out of touch’ that they have complicated simple interpretations of the law and do not seem to have the ability to understand the essence of diverse society London is about.  

Gene says’ “Immigrants are being blamed for all the ills of the society when we actually now have a bigger pool of immigrants whose skills and talents we should access and encourage them to be involved for the good of the country”. 

I will specifically share my feelings for Gene Alcantara. He is an educated, honest, likeable, hardworking and caring individual, who will make an ideal modern politician. He is always prepared to roll up his sleeves and listen to the people. Gene is patriotic as he tirelessly promotes the Philippines where he originally comes from as well as being a proud British citizen who worked for two decades promoting Britain abroad through the British Council. He speaks several languages and has visited 60 countries which makes him even more equipped to deal with the diversity of London. 

Talking about capability, Gene was Head of Accounts Payable for a number of years in the British Council and was the guardian of credit cards and payments worth hundreds of millions of pounds.  

The one other thing I am so proud of Gene is the fact that he never loses sight of the human factor when dealing with political issues. 

In the last month, I have followed Gene’s campaign and seen how Gene went out and talked to different communities. He attended community events, rallies, sports events, festivals, and could see that he is comfortable with talking to people and getting them inspired. He is a picture of a true leader who can organise and lead communities. 

Highlight of Campaign Events 

On 2nd May, Gene talked to Londoners in the street and visited the Tamil rally in London’s Parliament Square. 

On 3rd May, Gene met revellers at FM Pasyalan Club in Shepherds Bush and then joined boxing fans at the Walkabout Australian Bar to take in the Hatton v Pacquiao fight. 

On 4th May – Gene joined the Strangers into Citizens Rally in Trafalgar Square and talked to people from different communities including Filipinos, Chinese, Indians and Africans as well as different religious leaders. 

On 10th May – In the morning, Gene talked to the churchgoers at Westminster Cathedral. In the evening, Gene attended a Filipino community show in Harrow organised by West End starts including Monique Wilson and Junix Inocian. 

On 12th May, Gene went to the Philippine Embassy to pay his respect and introduce his campaign team. 

On 16th May, Gene attends “Flores De Mayo”, Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair.

On 17th May, Gene attended Kampi Basketball matches in Canning Town, visited Oriental Store in Plaistow, Tawana Shop and Filipino restaurant in Walthamstow. 

Gene visited different churches including Westminster Cathedral, Iglesia ni Kristo and Born Again followers. 

In between the above events, Gene gathered up dozens of volunteers doing street leafleting and mailshots. 

Fundraising event with Madonna Decena 

On 18th May, Gene organised his fundraising campaign at FM Pasyalan which was successful considering the credit crunch and the fact that it was a Monday night. He had supporters from different communities including Filipinos, British, Polish, Danish, Norwegian and Panamanian. 

Stars supported him including Madonna Decena, Britain’s Got Talent star, Policeman, young and old, students, teenagers, business people and government officials.

This particular event shows Gene’s pulling power and how he can unite different communities and inspire them. 

On 21 and 22 May, hundreds of students volunteered to help Gene prepare labels and envelopes for his election campaign. 

On 23 May, Gene went to a number of events from a house barbecue party in South Croydon to the Grand Canao festival in Walthamstow attended by 500 people. In the evening, he was invited to meet the 300 guests at Batangas Association charity dinner.   

On 24 May, Gene went to meet Sacred Heart of Jesus churchgoers in Kilburn. 

On 25 May (bank holiday), volunteers turned up at Umi Hotel in London to help Gene prepare election communication. In the late afternoon he proceeded to Kusinang Munti in Tooting who proudly hang up his campaign banner. Nayong Pilipino in Tooting also put his posters up.  The Manalo family in Mitcham took his campaign materials to the bus drivers and nurses in London. 

On 31^st May, he was invited to introduce himself to the meeting organised by over 1000 South Americans in Elephant and Castle.  Yet again, he showed he could converse in their language as well as understand their issues.

In the afternoon, I went with Gene and Pi (his wife) to Chinatown to talk to the Chinese community. 

On 2^nd June, Gene went to Ealing to distribute more campaign leaflets to the Polish community. He even took the time to get his manifesto translated in Polish, Spanish and Chinese. 

To further support Gene’s campaign for tomorrow’s election, I ask the communities in London to:

• Unite
• Exercise the right to vote
• Vote for the right candidate
• Vote for Gene Alcantara
• Let Gene Alcantara be your voice in Europe

Monique Wilson, a member of the original cast of Miss Saigon, and now a lecturer in London, gives her views on Gene Alcantara, MEP candidate for London.  

Gene Alcantara, a British Filipino migrant, is running as an Independent candidate, for in the European Parliamentary elections on 4 June 2009.    

http://genealcantara.com/

Since the British Ambassador to the Philippines, Mr Peter Beckingham, apologised in April to Filipino’s for the visa bottleneck at British Embassy Visa Section in Manila, things have improved for students applying to study in the UK.

Last month Mr Beckingham was the guest of Philippine Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu at the Philippine Embassy in London. He kindly agreed to address the largely Filipino audience and take questions on visa issues.

The explosion in NVQ student applications, prior to the start of Tier 4 (for students) of the Points Based System on 1 April 2009, led to hundreds of Filipino visa applicants being delayed due to restrictions imposed by the UK Border Agency.

British Embassy Manila’s Entry Clearance Manager, Andy Battson, explained that the numbers of visa applications increased massively from 1,300 to 13,000, which, combined with their new ‘Regional Hub’ role, put considerable pressure on resources.

After the formal presentations MEP candidate for London Gene Alcantara interviewed Andy Battson for The Filipino Channel (TFC) for ABS CBN.

The British Embassy has recently overturned a number of NVQ student visa refusals which had been taken to appeal by Bison UK at the AIT in London.

Majestic College reports that Entry Clearance Managers have withdrawn from several appeals and issued visas to NVQ students previously refused entry clearance.

The college also said that the embassy were now issuing far more student visas and refusing very few as they clear the backlog of thousands of pre-Tier 4 VAF applications.

The new Tier 4 rules are expected to improve the visa process, and the resources issue will apparently soon be addressed by the UK Border Agency. See ‘‘Tier 4 for Students’ video.

Gene is standing for London in the European Parliamentary elections on the 4 June and is holding a special fund raising event at FM Pasyalan in Shepherds Bush on Monday 18 May from 7pm onwards – all welcome.http://genealcantara.com

Gene is urging everyone to register and exercise their right to vote – deadline Tuesday 19 May 2009. See: European Parliamentary candidate calls on all to exercise their right to vote

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk  or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Charles Kelly for Immigration Matters meets MEP Candidate for London Gene Alcantara at the Strangers into Citizens Rally, Trafalgar Square, London, 4 May 2009. 

According to research carried out by the leading think tank ’ippr’, finding and deporting 700,000 undocumented immigrants would cost over £5 billion and take up to 20 years.

However, legalizing those same people and turning them into taxpayers and useful members of society will benefit the UK to the tune of over £4 billion.

As Gene Alcantara put it:

“There is a clear business case for legalizing the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants already here which would in turn help the Government secure our borders.

“These people are here to stay so why not allow them to live their lives with dignity and contribute to society?”

The European Elections take place for the UK on 4 June 2009.

The Governemt is currently introducing legislation making it more difficult for legal migrants to become British citizens.

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, which is expected to become law this year, will deny thousands of legal workers the chance to settle in the UK. 

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk  or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Youtube version:

This weekend Immigration Matters’ Charles Kelly visited the Tamil rally in London’s Parliament Square opposite the House of Commons.

Charles was joined by Gene Alcantara, MEP candidate for London in the forthcoming European elections this June.

The Tamil protesters, some of whom are on hunger strike, are asking the British Government to intervene and stop the bloody war in Sri Lanka.

MEP candidate Gene Alcantara talks to Tamil hunger strikers

Charles Kelly with Tamil protester and MEP Candidate Gene Alcantara

Charles Kelly visits Tamil protesters outsdie UK Parliament