With the election Barak Obama as the first African-American US president, some Filipino-Americans are also entertaining the thoughts of whether or not a Filipino-American may also land in the White House someday. Stop dreaming, for there could be no one.

From this forwarded e-mail from Hermes Quijada, it would seem that there is no single chance that a Fil-Am will ever get elected as a US President. Here are the top ten reasons why there couldn't be a Filipino-American US President.

Let's do it through a countdown and this serves as our Joke of the Week too.

10. The White House is not big enough for in-laws and extended relatives.

9. There are not enough parking spaces at the White House for 2 Honda Civics, 2 Toyota Land Cruisers, 3 Toyota Corollas, a Mercedes Benz, a BMW, and an MPV (My Pinoy Van).

8. Dignitaries generally are intimidated by eating with their fingers at State dinners.

7. There are too many dining rooms in the White House - where will they put the picture of the Last Supper?

6. The White House walls are not big enough to hold a pair of giant wooden spoon and fork.

5. Secret Service staff won't respond to 'psst... psst' or hoy.hoyhoy.

4. Secret Service staff will not be comfortable driving the presidential car with a Holy Rosary hanging on the rear view mirror, or the statue of the Santo Nino on the dashboard.

3. No budget allocation to purchase a Karaoke music-machine for every room in the White House.

2. State dinners do not allow 'Take Home'.

But the no. 1 reason why there couldn't be a Filipino-American US President is that -

1. Air Force One does not allow overweight Balikbayan boxes!

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Still from the e-mail, we stumbled upon this common legal problem for Filipinas in the United States. We are sharing this to our dear readers so that those similarly situated maybe guided accordingly.

This is the case of a Filipina married in the Philippines with four children but was able to obtain a court decree that her husband was presumed dead. On the basis of this decree, she was able to marry an American and her immigration status was consequently approved.

She thus became an immigrant in the US with her four children. Years later, she filed a divorce because she was being abused and her life was threatened. The US court granted the divorce.

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Apparently in retaliation, the American husband recently discovered that the Filipina's daughter was still in communication with the first husband, her father. The American husband printed out a hard copy and reported it to the immigration office. Now the wife and the daughter are being called to explain their sides of the story.

The question raised is that since there was already a decision in a Philippine court that the marriage was annulled, would the reappearance of the first husband affect or invalidate the court decree declaring him as presumably dead?

Even a first year law student who has taken up the subject Persons and Family Relations could answer this question.

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This is the problem of some spouses trying to be austere from legal expenses for purposes of remarriage. Truly, the legal expenses to obtain a court decree declaring the other spouse to be presumably dead is considerably lower than to file an action for annulment based on the lack or defects of formal and essential requisites of marriage or under Article 36 of the Family Code otherwise known as psychological incapacity.

But while the legal expenses may be lower because it is only a matter of special proceeding under the Rules of Court, the declaration of a spouse to be presumably dead can be set aside as soon as the spouse re-appears.

The complication of the legal problem above-stated lies on the approval of the immigration status of the Filipina and her four children. The proper question therefore is whether or not the re-appearance of the spouse declared to be presumably dead has a domino effect on the immigration status of the Filipina by virtue of her marriage to an American citizen, albeit eventually divorced? This needs quite an elucidation.