Young Filipino-American supporters of President Obama have begun mobilizing to work for

September 29, 2025 admin 0 Comments

Young Filipino-American supporters of President Obama have begun mobilizing to work for his re-election bid next year.

He said they’ve been knocking on doors in New Jersey and are planning a large campaign kick-off in December to convince Fil-Ams to register and vote in 2012.

Jason Lagria, national co-chairman of Kaya Filipino Americans for Progress, told ABS-CBN News they’ve started identifying “key targeters” in the community who can serve as volunteers.

They concede that with the tough economic times, they have their work cut out for them.

Lagria said one advantage is that they are able to mobilize earlier than they did in 2008. “It’s a year out right now and we’re already planning,” he said.

A pre-election survey by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) and Federation of Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC) in 2008 revealed that 36 percent of the Fil-Am respondents favored then Sen. Obama while 30 percent was inclined to swing for his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain. The breakdown revealed that a significant portion – about a third – were undecided a week before the last presidential elections.

Lagria argued that Pres. Obama has been good to Asian Americans. “Look at his record on diversity – he’s nominated 8 Asian-Americans to federal courts when there were just 7 ever before that. He’s basically doubled the number of Asian Americans in the judiciary and he’s done the same thing in his Cabinet and throughout his administration.”