Tag Archives: 51st State

Government, International, Politics

U.S. CONGRESS DIVIDED BETWEEN PHILIPPINES AND PUERTO RICO TO BE THE 51ST STATE OF THE U.S.

3 Comments

imageWASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles®) – The fourth of July would have been a perfect day to welcome the 51st state of the United States, but it seems that may have to wait for yet another year.

A U.S. territory, Puerto Rico, and a former U.S. colony, the Philippines, are the top contenders to become the latest addition to the union .

Puerto Rico has already held several referenda to determine the people’s desire to continue to be independent or to become a U.S. state. By virtue of their country’s status as territory, Puerto Ricans are already considered U.S. citizens. In the last referendum held in November of 2012, majority of Puerto Ricans – 61% – have chosen statehood for the first time.

The Philippines has not held a referendum on statehood although a U.S. statehood movement has been in existence for decades.  The Southeast Asian country has become very strategic for the United States, especially in light of recent developments involving China and its territorial claims on islands in the South China Sea —  claims contested by the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.

In anticipation of statehood, the Philippines has already designed its proposed state flag. image

Only the U.S. Congress can decide to add a new state to the union, as clearly stated in the U.S. Constitution.

The Adobo Chronicles®  recently conducted an informal poll among members of the current U.S. Congress and the results show an amazing statistical dead heat. Our poll showed 267.5 legislators in favor of Puerto Riceo and 267.5 in favor of the Philippines.

So the question remains: which will become the 51st state of the United States? Puerto Rico or the Philippines?

Suffice it to say that whichever becomes the 51st state will be listed in the same order, alphabetically, when mentioning the 51 U.S. states, since both start with the letter ‘P.’

International, LGBT, Religion, Same-sex Marriage

PHILIPPINES LOSES BID TO BECOME THE 51ST U.S. STATE, THANKS TO THE PHILIPPINE BISHOPS

1 Comment
Villegas, left, and Cardinal Tagle, center.
Villegas, left, and Cardinal Tagle, center.

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles ®) – It was just a matter of time. The Philippines’ bid to become the 51st state of the U.S.A. was just weeks away from being approved by the United States Congress.  But  in just the last 24 hours, the hope all but went away, thanks to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing gay marriage, the Catholic Church in the Philippines says it will maintain its teachings on marriage which is exclusively between a man and a woman.

CBCP head and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas issued an official statement today, reiterating the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage, while reassuring the LGBT community there will be no discrimination against them by the Church.

“The Church continues to maintain what it has always taught. Marriage is a permanent union of man and woman, in the complementarity of the sexes and the mutual fulfillment that the union of a man and a woman bring into the loftiness of the matrimonial bond. If there is an undeniable difference between man and woman, there is also an undeniable difference between the permanent union of a man and a woman,” Villegas said in a post on his Facebook account.

Upon hearing of the CBCP’s  stand on gay marriage, the U.S. Congress killed a bi-partisan resolution granting the Philippines statehood status.

“The Philippines cannot be  a state of the union if it does not intend to abide by the law of the land,” Speaker John Boehner said. “Same-sex marriage is now the law in America, and no existing or potential U.S. state can get around it,” he added.

Government, International

FILIPINOS WILL VOTE ON STATEHOOD IN 2016

10 Comments

imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) –  For the first time since the Philippines gained full sovereignty from the United States in 1946, Filipinos will be given the chance to determine their country’s future.

A joint session of the Philippine Congress has approved a resolution calling for a national referendum on whether or not the former American colony should become the 51st state of the U.S. of A.

The referendum will coincide with the country’s 2016 presidential elections.

While the results of the referendum will  not be legally binding, it will send a clear message to the United States about how the Filipinos think of their own government, and of Uncle Sam.

The power to accept any territory or country into the Union rests with the United States Congress.

If approved by the Filipino people through the referendum and favorably acted upon by the U.S. Congress, the Philippines will become the 51st or 52nd state.

Previously, Puerto Rico, in a similar nonbinding referendum, voted 61% to 33% for statehood, while the remaining 6% favored outright independence. Puerto Rico is one of the U.S. territories, along with Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands,  American Samoa and the Northern Marianas.

If the Philippines becomes a state of the U.S., whomever is elected president in 2016 will automatically become governor of the new state.

Already the campaign for statehood has been launched through an online petition with 7,000 signatures so far.