A father’s journey of triumph, tragedy in Trump’s America
GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA—Almost a year ago, Filipino-American Art Samontina traveled back to his homeland to bury his 6-year-old son Jeremiah who had suddenly died of pneumonia.
The death of his youngest son in Ozamiz City thousands of kilometers away came as a huge blow to the 54-year-old teacher and basketball coach of Glendale High School (GHS) in this city, at a time when the Nitros, the school’s basketball team, was recording a winning season.
“I thought about quitting! Sobrang hirap (It was just too hard),” Samontina said, showing he can still speak Tagalog however sparsely even after living in America for 46 years.
But this diverse city of mostly Armenian-Americans who in 1983 elected George Deukmejian as the first and only California governor of Armenian roots, rallied around Samontina and embraced him in his grief as if he was part of them.
“We just wanted him to forget about basketball for a while so that he can deal with his grief,” Tadeh Mardirosian, the athletic director of GHS who hired Samontina in 2022, told this reporter.
“Art is such a consummate professional that he brings this whole package of winning, nurturing families and promoting friendships,” Mardirosian added.
“Art is a coach, a teacher, a role model, and a mentor for so many children and their families in our community,” said Victoria Lanier, a parent who organized a GoFundMe campaign for his son’s funeral expenses.
“He has made incredible sacrifices and dedicated himself to create opportunities for the players that have grown up under his supervision.” Lanier added.
Coping mechanism
One who stepped up to make one huge sacrifice was Jacob, his 18-year-old son from his first marriage. The young Samontina played basketball at Burroughs, a rival high school, when he decided to play for his father in his senior year.
“It was a no-brainer for me. When my brother died, I knew I had to be with Dad, leave my friends behind and play with my Dad to help him heal,” Jacob said as he took a break from their weekly scrimmage last Saturday.
For a year, father and son used basketball as a coping mechanism and therapy to deal with their loss.
“It was a good feeling with Jacob playing under me,” Samontina said.
Like any father, Samontina had big plans for his dear departed Jeremiah, noting that his son was about his age when he arrived first in America in 1979 as the youngest of three siblings who immigrated from Cebu City.
But his death on June 25, 2024, turned his world upside down and made him more determined to bring his new family over from the Philippines.
‘Chain migration’
Samontina has hired an immigration lawyer so that Venus, his fiancée in Ozamis City and mother of Jeremiah and their daughters Ja-Ja, 16, and Jehiah, 8, will finally join him with Jacob and Jasmine, 20, his daughter from his first marriage which ended in divorce.
Asked by this reporter if he is worried at all about President Donald Trump’s plan of ending “chain migration,” the derogatory word used by Trump about family reunification, Samontina said: “I’m a US citizen. I don’t worry about that at all.”
But always the fearmonger, Trump fanned the flames of anxiety and apprehension in the hearts of many immigrants with pending fiancée visa petitions of their loved ones—which brings spouses and minor children to the United States—like the one being used by Samontina.
Trump is widely criticized for trying to end the same immigration pathway that his wife Melania used to benefit her family. In her case, petitioning her father Victor and mother Amalija from Slovenia to become American citizens on Aug. 19, 2018 when her husband was president.
Time will tell whether Samontina’s dream of reuniting with his beloved Venus, Ja-Ja and Jehiah and will come into fruition.
Samontina’s journey to his current perch in high school basketball here started when he became an assistant coach in the 1990s at San Bernardino Valley College, a small college near the Mojave desert.
“I cleaned the floors. I did all the dirty work” said Samontina who credits his father Victorio, a retired accountant, and his mother Inocencia, a retired registered nurse, for his work ethic and dedication.
“My parents really brought their Filipino culture to their new country. And I was all the better for it,” Samontina said.
He got his big break when he was picked from a dozen coaches in Los Angeles to coach the GHS Nitros basketball team.
Last Wednesday, Samontina was seen smiling with pride when he witnessed his son Jacob graduate from high school at GHS.
Looking forward
“I’m also looking forward to meeting my new family. I’ve been FaceTiming with them,” said Jacob, who will be attending California State University of Long Beach, this fall with an eye to play more basketball.
“I love playing basketball. I dream about it all the time,” he said.
But Jacob is not the only one benefiting from fatherly love these days.
“He is more than a father to them,” added Mardirosian, the athletic director.
“He adopted these student athletes, every single one of them, mentoring them not only about basketball, but more importantly, about life,” he added.
