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The frenzy over Bitcoin and the Filipino ‘biglang yaman’ mentality
By Rene Pastor A long-time friend who lives in California asked what I thought about Bitcoin. I replied with a laugh, “You too?” I have read how many people, especially in Asia, are both intrigued and enamored by this digital currency. Across the Philippines and Hong Kong, Bitcoin has become an enchanting game of chance, […]
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NYC’s retail sector is ailing; how FilAm businesses transform and adapt
By Cristina DC Pastor For 20 years, Fantasia Floral Design was an Upper East Side flower shop that catered to Manhattan’s high society. Until April of 2016. Owner Dennis Josue did not renew his lease because the landlord wanted to raise his rent by 3 percent. He was paying $5,200 a month for a 300-square […]
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Duterte and PIDCI among Top 10 stories for 2017
By Cristina DC Pastor 2017 was the year people relied on The FilAm as a news source on Rodrigo Duterte and PIDCI, or the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. Too much blood has spilled as a result of the Duterte Government’s war on drugs, and uncontrolled fraud and thievery has exposed PIDCI as an organization […]
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Malagos Chocolate: Not quite Willy Wonka but close enough
By Cristina DC Pastor DAVAO City — Paul Hubahib, 13, and his sister Andrea, 7, were nibbling chocolates with their mother and cousin when I spotted them. What’s offbeat is they’re munching on chocolates they just made. At the Malagos Chocolate Laboratory, anyone — especially children like the Hubahib siblings – can make his/her own […]
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Davao’s Banana Republic
Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because it wasn’t peeling very well! – Popular banana joke By Cristina DC Pastor TAGUM City, Davao del Norte — We saw no ill-looking bananas as we cut across the Hijo Resorts plantation here in a van. Only robust, healthy Cavendish varieties hanging from rows of drooping […]
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Coconut sugar, dried mangoes among unique products at Kosherfest expo
Nine manufacturing companies from the Philippines exhibited in Kosherfest, the largest business-to-business trade event for the Kosher industry, held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey from November 14 to 15. The U.S. kosher market generates over $12 billion in annual sales, according to the OU (Orthodox Union) Kosher kosher certification agency website. The […]
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Marikina-born Roman Banting finds rewarding career as a numismatist
By Cristina DC Pastor When Roman Banting came to the U.S. in the 1990s, he felt inadequately prepared for the American job market. The only jobs he held in the Philippines were ticket taker in a movie house and car salesman. In Florida, his wife Imelda had an in-demand health care job as a physical […]
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CEO Vonz Santos: Building portable homes for typhoon-prone Philippines
By Wendell Gaa This article is part of a continuing series on Filipino Americans who have returned to the homeland, lured by more fulfilling careers and an opportunity to bridge and embrace their two cultures. A recipient of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for 2015 in the field of social entrepreneurship in Manila, Rogelio […]
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Trade secretary says PHL economy is looking good, ‘DuterteNomics’ paves the way
By Cristina DC Pastor Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez touted ‘DuterteNomics’ in a swing through New York saying it offers “real solutions to poverty” that still plagues millions of Filipinos. DuterteNomics is the government’s way of making it easy for investors to do business in the Philippines. “It will reduce inequality, increase competitiveness of […]