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SAN
FRANCISCO—His voice reverberates in a downtown San
Francisco train station as passersby, residents and
visitors make their way to the Bay Area Rapid Transport
(BART), the city’s main subway system.
Train-goers from all over the world hear exceptional
music as Ruben Kalinga sings Tagalog songs from way
back. Many Filipino commuters and foreign travelers drop
coins and sometimes one-dollar bills into the neon-green
plastic box Kalinga has kept for months, ever since he
decided to pursue a long-time dream.
With a
guitar and a harmonica, Kalinga sings rock ’n’ roll and
occasionally sits down to croon country and folk songs,
to the delight of his Western audience.
The
50-year-old former merchant seaman is no stranger at
BART stations. Every day, he lugs his musical
instruments and performs for hours, most of the time
without food, unless he decides to take a short break.
But
unlike other Filipinos who are illegally staying in the
United States, Kalinga is not in hiding. In fact,
despite his illegal status, he exposes himself by
performing almost daily in parts of San Francisco where
police, tourists and locals go by. He also insists his
real name be mentioned in this story.
“They
know who are illegal here, but I’m not afraid. I know
they won’t deport me. You can’t call me TNT [for the
Tagalog tago nang tago, or ‘always in hiding’] because
I’m not hiding,” he says with confidence.
Kalinga can afford to be nonchalant. San Francisco is
one of few US cities that have remained friendly to
undocumented immigrants like him. In an immigrant-rights
summit in September, Mayor Gavin Newsom promised that
despite a crackdown by the Bush administration, San
Francisco would continue to be a “sanctuary” for
undocumented foreign workers.
Eleven
years ago, Kalinga, a father of six, took a chance to
attain the American dream. When his oil tanker docked in
Los Angeles, he skipped out. Pretending to be mentally
challenged, Kalinga was able to pass through security
check.
This
attempt to sneak into the United States was his second,
and it was successful. In 1993 the ex-seafarer had been
deported to the Philippines when immigration officials
caught him in El Paso, Texas, shortly after failing to
return to his ship, which was docked in Florida.
Philippine authorities have lost count of how many
Filipino seamen have “jumped ship” while abroad,
especially in places like North America and Europe. |
