The FilAm’s 10 most-read stories in 2015: From Lea Salonga to Stella Abrera

Lea Salonga, Leila Benitez McCollum Elizabeth Arreglado, Stella Abrera

Lea Salonga, Leila Benitez McCollum
Elizabeth Arreglado, Stella Abrera

Filipino Americans love a feel-good story. Stories of regular folks who inspire, uplift, and to a certain degree, empower.

That is why the profiles of entrepreneur Mita Quiogue, finance executive Elizabeth ‘Ninez’ Arreglado, and the dance theater acclaim achieved by Stella Abrera were among this year’s collection of stories that were appreciated most by the readers of The FilAm.

Our interview with Tony Award-winning Best Actress Lea Salonga topped the charts, so to speak. It’s no surprise to many. Salonga is our very own Success in the City story, winning fame on Broadway from “Miss Saigon” in the 1990s and “Allegiance” some 25 years later. Whatever accomplishment she has garnered, our community proudly claims as theirs.

It has been that way with dancer Stella Abrera who is the first FilAm to become a principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre; Elizabeth Arreglado, who was the highest-ranking FilAm at the New York Stock Exchange when she stepped down in early 2015; and Emil Jose Kelso, the FilAm boy who currently portrays the Nutcracker at the Lincoln Center in George Balanchine’s classic choreography that has become a holiday theater tradition.

The re-emergence of Philippine television celebrity Leila Benitez McCollum as a recipient of Fiesta in America’s Empowerment Award, generated clicks and Likes and Shares too many to count. The story of spa owner Mita Quiogue is a never-ending one as she continues to start and grow her businesses. Gail Banawis singing the National Anthem during the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight served to inspire young singers that they, too, can be on the international stage.

During the year, we said goodbye to a diplomat and a journalist: Ambassador Domingo ‘Doy’ Lucenario who died in a helicopter crash in Pakistan, and Filipino Reporter publisher Libertito ‘Bert’ Pelayo who established an enduring newspaper for Filipinos in the New York area, their legacies closely bound to the communities they served.

The Philippine Gold Exhibit was read and closely followed by the community, proud that a little known fact about pre-colonial Filipinos as artists and artisans would be celebrated by the Asia Society through a months-long exhibit.

We wish Filipino Americans continued excellence in their profession, their craft and their advocacy. The FilAm will be there with you to chronicle your stories and share your success with the world. – Cristina DC Pastor

The Top 10 stories of 2015:

1 Sitdown with Lea Salonga: Teaching her daughter leadership, excited about Leni Robredo, a dream duet with Streisand

2 Gold exhibit in NYC: Pre-colonial Filipinos were not savages: organizers

3 Serial entrepreneur Mita Quiogue: Finding success one business at a time

4 Gail Banawis to sing PHL anthem at May 2 Pacquiao-Mayweather match: ‘Great blessing!’

5 Elizabeth Arreglado, highest ranking Filipina, bids goodbye to the NYSE

6 Remembering Ambassador Doy Lucenario, an honorable diplomat and friend

7 Leila Benitez McCollum re-emerges, wins Empowerment Award

8 Filipino Reporter publisher, ex-war correspondent Bert Pelayo, 78

9 FilAm boy Emil Jose Kelso is this year’s Nutcracker at Lincoln Center

10 Stella Abrera joins Misty Copeland as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre

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