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Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler warns landlords vs illegal, multiple bedspacers
By Cristina DC Pastor The Elmhurst, Queens apartment where housekeeper Wilma de Jesus lives looks like a maze for lab rats. The living room is creatively partitioned using book shelves, wall dividers, and bamboo screens. Each space has a futon or a sleeping bag a tenant calls her bedspace. Wilma shares this apartment with a […]
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8 years in jail for ex-consular official in N.Y.? ‘Too harsh,’ say some in community
By Cristina DC Pastor The conviction of a former Philippine consular official to New York has thrust civil service ethics into the brew of political discussion: ‘She did her job well’ versus ‘She was dishonest’ is now being debated before the court of Social Media. Diplomat Ma. Lourdes Ramiro-Lopez was found by the Office of […]
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NJ Judge Carlia Brady pleads ‘not guilty’ for hiding fugitive boyfriend in her home
Suspended New Jersey Judge Carlia Magpantay Brady pleaded not guilty for harboring her fugitive boyfriend who was wanted in an armed robbery in 2013. Brady faces a possible jail time of five to 10 years for a charge Gov. Chris Christie has called “deplorable and frankly, stupid.” The plea was entered on July 15 at […]
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Commissioner Bill Bratton assures NYPD will ‘actively pursue’ investigation into death of Queens man
Police Commissioner William ‘Bill’ Bratton has given his assurance that “cases involving Filipinos will remain a high priority” for the NYPD. Bratton made this statement in a July 6 meeting with Consul General Mario de Leon Jr. at the commissioner’s office in downtown Manhattan. De Leon called on Bratton as a diplomatic courtesy and also […]
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Brooklyn DA Kenneth Thompson: ‘No political ambitions, no issues with women’
By Cristina DC Pastor Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson will always be remembered for the 2011 Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault, where he represented the accuser Nafissatou Diallo. He rose to prominence for his rousing defense of Diallo, the immigrant hotel housekeeper who accused Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape, and was eventually elected in 2013. That case, […]
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Friends express shock over arrest, bribery charges vs CEO Rudy Quiambao
By Cristina DC Pastor Friends of Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Quiambao were shocked and saddened by published reports that the quiet and well-respected CEO of Rudell & Associates was recently arrested on bribery charges. Forbes Magazine reported in its June 5 issue that Quiambao, “the owner of an electrical-design company called Rudell & Associates, paid three Con […]
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HRW to Philippine government: Probe Mayor Duterte’s alleged ‘death squad’ links
The Philippine government should investigate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for his possible role in summary executions in the city over the past decade, the independent Human Rights Watch said on May 19 in a report published on its website. The full report below: Duterte has continued to espouse the killing of criminal suspects to […]
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Emotions run high at vigil on the eve of Mary Jane’s execution
About 70 Filipino-Americans and concerned community members gathered in front of the Indonesian Consulate in Midtown Manhattan on April 27 as part of international actions to save the life of domestic worker Mary Jane Veloso, who is awaiting execution by firing squad in Indonesia the following day. “The death penalty is a violent and inhumane […]
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My heart aches for my beloved Baltimore
By Bella Santos Owens After having a great weekend with my family celebrating our children’s birthdays who are young adults and half African Americans, I am very sad watching Baltimore City being destroyed. Baltimore City had been my home and my work location ever since I came to this country in the 1980s. Our kids […]