-
Cesar Conda’s winding journey from intern to leading GOP policy wonk
By Cristina DC Pastor In college and already a proud Republican, Cesar Conda had the ‘privilege’ of being the motorcade driver to then President Ronald Reagan during the G-8 Economic Summit in Williamsburg. More than three decades later and now a well-regarded political conservative, he would recount this episode of how he came up close […]
-
Mia Alvar wins $25K PEN/Bingham Prize for debut story collection ‘In the Country’
PEN America named Mia Alvar winner of the 2016 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction on April 11 at a ceremony in New York for her short story collection “In the Country.” Published by Alfred A. Knopf, “In the Country” comprises nine stories giving voice to the Filipino diaspora as its characters reflect on […]
-
A strange encounter at a fundraising gala
By Cristina DC Pastor My Friend, who shall not be named because of an ongoing federal investigation, called early morning today. He does not usually call at 7 a.m. unless it’s an urgent matter or I phone him and I am expecting a callback. Friend met a couple of a people at the recent Pan […]
-
In this ‘Pamanhikan,’ parents of the groom and groom meet, come to blows
By Lindy Rosales ‘Pamanhikan’ is a Filipino tradition where the parents of the bride and the groom meet for the first time. In this unique ritual involving families getting to know the other, there is a lot that can happen, which may prevent the wedding from taking place. Such is the plotline of comic satire […]
-
26K FilAms across Northeast start voting for Philippine president
By Cristina DC Pastor On a chilly April 9 Saturday facing the threat of a snow, the 26,000 Filipino Americans eligible to vote in the U.S. Northeast for the next Philippine president began casting their ballots. The number represents 0.04 percent of the 54.4 million Filipinos voting in this election. In a five-way race, the […]
-
What happens to nurses who go into retirement?
By Cristina DC Pastor For the tens of thousands of Filipino American nurses in the New York metropolitan area, options for the proverbial ‘long vacations’ are varied. Some go into business by opening their own staffing agencies or nursing homes for the elderly. Some pursue hobbies they have put in the back burner, such as […]
-
NextDayBetter’s pneumonia awareness: Helping the homeland one meaningful action at a time
Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood death in the Philippines. There is a vaccine to prevent the disease, but at about $45 per child, the price charged to the government by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, this price may become unsustainable in the future. NextDayBetter, a storytelling platform for diaspora communities, has joined Doctors Without Borders’s […]
-
Allan Palacios Chan to sing at Pacquiao fight: ‘I chose not to judge’
By Maricar CP Hampton Amid the messy controversy of Manny Pacquiao’s comment calling “gays worse than animals,” one singer has agreed to perform the Philippine National Anthem at the Pacquiao-Bradley fight in Las Vegas on April 9. “I choose not to judge,” tenor Allan Palacios Chan said when interviewed by The FilAm Metro D.C. “Should […]
-
Tandaan mo, iha, ikaw ay ‘Raised Pinay’*
By Cristina DC Pastor In the mid-1990s, feminist Eve Ensler wrote and performed “The Vagina Monologues,” recreating in prose how this pleasure shrine is used to celebrate and subjugate women. The multi-part play became a big hit for shattering the taboo and making the ‘vagina’ a sociopolitical tour de force, the message of ending violence […]