Monday, March 14, 2005
Man who came to US with Marcos facing possible deportation (8:55 p.m.)
ANAHEIM, California -- A man who was granted safe haven in the United States when he arrived as a member of former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos' entourage is fighting deportation.
"I still have Filipino values, but I'm definitely very independent, and that's very American," said Grant Bondoc, who arrived in the United States with his family when he was 15.
He was among some 200 members of Marcos' entourage who were evacuated to Hawaii in 1986 when the president, who had seized control of the country after his 1965 election, was driven from office by a public uprising.
Bondoc, the 34-year-old son of one of Marcos' former nurses, hasn't returned to his homeland since.
After Marcos died in 1989 and his widow, Imelda, returned to the Philippines in 1992, the US government ordered the rest of the group home, ruling there was no longer a reason for them to remain.
It is unclear how many complied, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Bondoc, who is scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles immigration court on Wednesday, said leaving the United States now would create a huge hardship for him.
"I don't even remember my life in the Philippines," he said. "I consider myself an American." (AP)
(March 15, 2005 issue)
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