Filipinos Gear Up To Tackle Gangs

Word spread rapidly in the Filipino community, through phone lines and backyard networks and kids exchanging news on the sidewalk: Brian Ronquillo had been convicted of first-degree murder, with emphasis on the first degree.

First degree means 52 to 69 years in prison. Ronquillo is 17.

The community reaction to the verdict: "Too harsh."

But it's a restrained reaction, tempered by sympathy for the family of the shooting victim, 16-year-old Melissa Fernandes, who was considered a friend of the Filipino community.

"He (Ronquillo) deserved something, but not this much," said Mars Rivera, a social worker and member of a Filipino-community advisory committee to Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper.

"Sixty-nine years! That's his whole life," Rivera continued. "He's a young kid. That's like telling the guy he's done."

Others, like Gloria Adams, a counselor at Meany Middle School and member of the Filipino American Educators of Washington, voiced similar sentiments about the verdict handed up yesterday afternoon.

"I'm a firm believer that if you do something wrong, you have to have punishment," Adams said. "But my heart tells me the punishment in this case is too harsh. He's too young to spend that much time in prison."

John Ragudos, director of Filipino Youth Activities, said all sides have lost: "I feel for the families (of the defendants) because they're going to have to live with this, and I feel for the other family because they no longer have a daughter."

In addition to the first-degree-murder conviction, Ronquillo was found guilty of two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of second-degree assault in the drive-by shooting that killed Fernandes outside Ballard High School in March.

The driver of the car, Cesar Sarausad II, was convicted of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of second-degree assault. The jury could not agree on any of the charges involving a third defendant, Jerome Reyes, who prosecutors said instigated the attack.

The trial has kept interest high on the subject of youth gangs. Filipino-community efforts spurred by the drive-by deaths of Fernandes and Ronald Bandulin, a 17-year-old Franklin High School student, have maintained their momentum.

The efforts seem to be fueled by the community's anguish and, some say, shame at watching three of its sons prosecuted.

"It has occupied a huge share of mind in our community. Huge. Everybody is talking about it," said Sluggo Rigor, a youth-outreach worker with Filipino Youth Activities.

Rigor, who also hosts a Filipino radio program and whose sons host a radio program for Filipino youth, has helped start another program intended to bridge the gap between immigrant parents and their "Americanizing" children.

Immigrants often become so wrapped up in surviving and making a living that they lose track of their children, who are left to find their own way, Rigor said.

A one-hour talk show called "Gabay sa Pamilya," or "Family Guide," which started last week, is one of a number of efforts to deal with what some view as the community's most urgent problem. It can be heard at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on KKMO (1360 AM).

On Monday, a citizens group of Filipino-community leaders met with Stamper for the third time. Stamper has agreed to meet the group once a quarter to solidify the relationship between police and the Filipino community.

The citizens group, co-chaired by Adams, discussed plans for a "Citizen's Academy" for the Filipino community. The academy, successful in other cities, is a series of workshops designed to teach the public about the Police Department.

Meanwhile, churches with large Filipino congregations, such as Trinity Life Center and Beacon United Methodist Church, both in South Seattle, have bolstered programs intended to provide spiritual guidance for young people, particularly those considered at-risk.

Other efforts:

-- Filipino Youth Activities is finishing up a yearlong survey of the needs of Filipino youths and families. With Filipino culture being a mix of Asian, Spanish and American influences, programs targeted for Asians often don't meet the community's needs. The survey is expected to be done by January.

-- The head of a Filipino gang-outreach program, Charlie Villagracia, is writing a parents' guide to understanding gang culture. It will discuss ways to recognize gang involvement and understand graffiti, hand signals and other street-culture vagaries.

-- Local schools have started Filipino parent groups to discuss issues involving their children. Ingraham and Cleveland high schools, for example, have started these groups within Filipino clubs.

Meanwhile, Filipino youngsters who belong to gangs or associate with them are being extra-careful these days, according to Don Woo, a concerned parent who has become a father figure to the group to which Ronquillo belonged.

"There's quite a bit of concern for (Ronquillo, Sarausad and Reyes), and that in itself is keeping the guys in check," Woo said. The prospect of long-term jail time has deterred the kids from doing anything criminal.

"It gives them reason for second thoughts."

Woo and others wonder aloud whether the interest in the gang problem will wane as the memory of the Ronquillo trial wanes.

Villagracia said that, like most other communities, the Filipino community is "basically reactionary."

"If there's an issue on the burner, people react to it right then and there, but when it starts to lose steam, people have a tendency to lay back."

Nineteen-year-old Bang Farolan, a co-host of the weekend radio show "Filipino Youth Hour," refers to the problem as "the plague" - a menace that crosses ethnic and economic boundaries. Until all of society deals with the problem, Farolan said, it's unlikely any one community will be free of it.