Celebrations for Jersey City’s first Filipino-American chief judge came to a contentious

Celebrations for Jersey City’s first Filipino-American chief judge came to a contentious halt last Wednesday after his nomination failed by one vote in the City Council, including a nay by the body’s lone Filipino-American member.

The City Council of New Jersey’s second-largest city – and the municipality with the largest number of Filipinos in the state – rejected, in a 4-5 vote, Mayor Jeremiah Healy’s nomination of Judge Carlo Abad for chief judge to Jersey City Municipal Court. For some, the fault lies in the hands of the city’s first Filipino-American Councilman, Rolando Lavarro Jr., who joined four others in voting no. However, according to reports in the The FilAm, Filipino Reporter and Asian Journal, it likely came down to a matter of politics.

Cristina DC Pastor of The FilAm summed up the political circumstances surrounding the vote.

Lavarro belongs to the party of Council Member Steven Fulop, who is challenging Healy’s leadership in the coming May municipal elections. Voting 5 to 4, the council rejected the nomination of Abad and another Healy nominee, Radames Velazquez, who was being considered to be a full-time judge for the Municipal Court. The council argued no “midnight appointments,” and that Healy should have waited until a new mayor is voted – or reelected — and gets a new mandate in three months.

Filipino Reporter quoted in a story their own columnist who defended Lavarro’s vote:

“Mayor Healy, evidently, tried to place his opponents, particularly Councilman Lavarro — who is popular in the Filipino-American community here — in a Catch 22 situation by nominating Judge Abad prior to the May mayoral elections,” said journalist Manny Caballero, who writes a column for the Filipino Reporter.

“Damned (among his party mates) if he voted for Mayor Healy’s recommendation, and damned (among Fil-Ams) if he did not because the Filipinos would view his vote in the negative,” Caballero said.

“It should be noted that a large number of Filipinos in this city are supporting the Lavarro-Fulop team in the May elections against Mayor Healy’s group.”

Caballero added: “How could he have defended or explained his vote to his party mates had he voted in favor of Mayor Healy, their political opponent in the coming elections?”

Both publications also included reaction from the Filipino-American community in Jersey City, who did not take well to the news.

At Wednesday’s voting, Fil-Am community figures Gali Munar and Fiorel Salvo reportedly walked out of the room immediately after hearing Lavarro’s vote.

“Had it not been for Lavarro’s ‘nay’ vote, there would have been another son of Filipino blood in the city government,” said Edgar Balintona, who for the first time witnessed a council meeting of the city “just to see another Filipino being confirmed to occupy another highly sensitive position in the city of Jersey City.”

Community leader Carmen Flores, who played a very active role in Lavarro’s election, said the Fil-Am councilman’s move to deny Abad’s appointment is “a slap” to the Filipino community as a whole.

“He will pay dearly come election time,” Flores was quoted as saying.

In the FilAm, meanwhile, Jersey City lawyer Victor Sison called Abad’s nomination “politically motivated” and explained the vote as a Catch-22:

Prior to his nomination, two other people have been nominated by the administration to choice spots. Lavarro and his allies believed that the midnight nominations were not right, that the positions should be left open for the incoming administration — whoever it is — and that a process of appointing people for such positions should be put in place. So they voted down the prospective appointees who happen to be Caucasians.

Then the administration turned around and nominated Abad and Velasquez, a Latino, for chief judgeship and for judgeship, respectively. From my take, it is to put Lavarro and his allies, one of whom is a Latina councilwoman, into a Catch-22, the unsolvable conundrum: If they approve the nominees, then they leave themselves open to charges of discrimination; if they don’t, then they will go down among the Filipino Americans and the Latinos as a disgrace for not having a ‘pakikisama.’

Against such scenario, Lavarro did what he had to do. He and his political allies saw through the political ruse and acted on their principles. I praise Lavarro for his savvy and for seeing through the political ploy. Welcome to JC politics.

Eduardo Pena, a board member of the Philippine-American Friendship Committee, sees it as a case of politicians “just being politicians”:

I believe that this may not necessarily be Filipino-versus-Filipino, rather a party-versus-party doing what they need to do to assert their influence in the city that they are hoping to secure votes for the term. The appointment itself may have been a political move causing both parties to do the political dance, but I also believe that the average Jersey City resident doesn’t care and only saw the possibility of a historical moment for the Asian community.

While I’m hopeful that it’s not a Filipino-versus-Filipino scenario, it might already be the perception. Some may argue that this could potentially be a step backwards for all who wish to get out of that “crab mentality” that appears to consume many communities. I get a sense that there are many Filipinos who might have been more interested in witnessing a historical first Asian Chief Municipal Judge.

Rolando has a good character, and I strongly believe that he would have voted based on principles. Although I’m disappointed that Abad did not get the vote, I’ve subscribed to the idea that politicians were just being politicians.

Momar Visaya of the Asian Journal spoke to Lavarro, who acknowledged the importance of the situation to the Filipino community.

“I struggled with the decision and I know how important it is to the Filipino community and I know how important it is myself to see one of my kababayans…I just ask for the folks’ patience because these tactics by the mayor are the lowest tactics divide communities and pit kababayan against kababayan,” an emotional and teary-eyed Lavarro told the Asian Journal. “I can assure the Filipino people that I will not rest until what is right is done and we’re going to fight to make sure that the process is corrected so that Carlo Abad has the fair opportunity that he deserves.”

The Asian Journal also spoke to Mayor Healy, who too considered the vote a matter of politics.

“It is a much-needed position that needed to be filled. Judge Abad is eminently qualified, he has done a great job. It was an opportunity to make history. He could have made history. We’re not giving up on him,” Mayor Healy told the Asian Journal.

“I am extremely disappointed that the city council voted them down. I consider it as an ugly illustration of politics taking precedence over good government. It was purely political, there was no reason to vote them down,” he added.

The council members who voted against Abad and Velazquez also called for reform, namely a clear and transparent process for judicial appointments in an effort to minimize politics. As for Lavarro:

He believes that when confronted with a fair and transparent process, his fellow Filipino Americans will welcome the opportunity to compete for positions based solely on the merits of their qualifications “because they know they can compete with anybody if the process is fair and equitable.”

“Until that process is in place, we have to treat all of our candidates the same, whether Filipino, Hispanic, Black, White, which is why I voted the way I did,” he said.

“While it pained me and I am fully aware that my vote prevented history from being made last night, my vote was based solely on doing what I thought is right and in the best interests of all of Jersey City,” Lavarro said. “As we develop and propose a process quickly, it is my hope that the making of history may have only been delayed.”

Asian Journal, FilAm, Filipino Reporter