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Marcelito Pomoy’s Mar-a-Lago Moment
By Cristina DC Pastor Marcelito Pomoy, the Pilipinas Got Talent Season 2 champion whose rare vocal range has mesmerized audiences around the world, was not quite ready to close out the year on a quiet note. On December 28, the Filipino singer found himself performing at Mar-a-Lago, the luxurious Palm Beach, Florida club resort owned […]
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Prof. Ismael Jampayas, 89
By Cristina DC Pastor Another pillar of the community has died. Ismael Jampayas, Honorary Grand Marshal of PAFCOM 2023, passed away on December 28 from cardiac arrest. He was 89 years old. Jampayas — fondly called Mike by close friends — told me he worked as a Professor of Clinical Pathology and Coordinator of Clinical […]
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ON GLOBAL FILIPINOS Dado Banatao: Modern Filipino hero
By Loida Nicolas Lewis On Christmas Day, 2025 the Philippines lost our modern Filipino hero. Diosdado “Dado” Banatao died peacefully in the presence of his family in his Alma Mater Stanford due to a neurological condition at 79 years old, five months before his 80th birthday. But what a life of eight decades! Dado was […]
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After the doors are closed: A Filipino priest’s post-Christmas melancholy in America
By Father JM Manolo A. Punzalan The Christmas season places a profound demand on both body and spirit, especially for us Filipino priests ministering in America. For nine straight days, my life revolved around Simbang Gabi every day at either 5 in the morning and again at 7 in the evening. My days began before […]
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What happened to Catalina Cabral?
The FilAm Editorial The mysterious disappearance of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral—who reportedly fell along Kennon Road in Benguet on December 18—has sparked troubling questions. Was it an accident? Suicide? Foul play? Or, as some officials have openly speculated, an elaborate ruse to evade prosecution, raising even wilder claims […]
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Bottle caps for ‘Jingle Bells’
By Gene P. Del Carmen Joseph could not have been more than 16. He stood at the front of the church choir loft, towering above us, during our Filipino evening Mass, Simbang Gabi, our novena Christmas tradition that we bring with us wherever we migrate. Robust and earnest, Joseph was a little nervous. When the […]
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Calendar from January 2026
January 3 PIDCI Grand Soiree EQX 45 Rockefeller Plaza Equinox entrance between 50th and 51st streets January 4 Sinulog 2026 by the Filipino Apostolate, Archdiocese of Newark Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 89 Ridge Street Newark NJ January 15 Edaya Star literary contest call for submissions Theme: ‘Dreams from sub-Saharan Mindanao’ Send […]
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Administration ‘overwhelmingly prefers’ European immigrants: analyst
By Pilar Marrero More than two million immigrants may soon find themselves stripped of legal status as the Trump administration moves forward with sweeping changes that could redefine who belongs in the United States. That is the warning from immigration experts, advocates and directly affected people who spoke at a December 5 national media briefing […]
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15 years of RN Express: A lifeline for nurses
By Cristina DC Pastor They were three nurses whose paths crossed at Amsterdam Nursing Home on the Upper West Side in the late 1990s. Maria Lea Batomalaque began as a staff nurse and, in a matter of months, rose to the position of head nurse. Sally Nuñez worked alongside Lea in the Reimbursement Department. Florida […]