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Celebrating Thanksgiving amid 1M COVID deaths looming
The FilAm Editorial By the end of 2020, some 340,000 Americans were dead from COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. That was the winter from hell. Scores perished because of the dithering and neglect by the then federal administration, which caused an unmitigated catastrophe. A mutated variant and vaccine resistance stoked by […]
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Tina Marie Romero: Caregiving is from the heart
The American Dream entered Tina Marie Romero’s consciousness as a young girl growing up in Bacolod City in Negros Occidental. In fact, she confessed to the excitement of opening balikbayan boxes sent by cousins working as nurses in the US. America came in these boxes, through the cornucopia of Oreos, Cabbage Patch kids and Nine […]
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When airline passengers misbehave
By Cristina DC Pastor Flight attendant Lia Ocampo has had her share of defiant airline passengers chortling in disdain when told to wear face masks while boarding the plane. Some travelers with ‘attitude’ tell her to her face “just let me go home” in an angry tone. So far, she has not figured in a […]
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Nurse Maria Ambrocio dies days after being knocked down by a mentally impaired man
An oncology nurse from Bayonne, New Jersey was pronounced dead on October 10 two days after she was knocked down by a fleeing theft suspect while walking toward Times Square, according to news reports. Reports said Maria Luningning Ambrocio cracked her skull when her head hit the pavement. She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and […]
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Dr. John Potenciano: A medical and spiritual path to healthcare
By Vicky Vitug Dr. John Potenciano,a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Albany, has a commonsense attitude toward vaccination. He said, “Vaccination with two doses of the same vaccine is 94% to 95% effective. There’s no guarantee but regardless. Any degree of protection is better than nothing. So that’s why we still have to keep wearing masks. […]
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A brave boy named Alton Jace
By Cristina DC Pastor In the humid morning of May 18, a heavily pregnant Amanda Alvaro was scheduled for a Cesarean section. Together with her husband Fred, the calmest person in the family, they drove to New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital praying for a safe delivery andhoping for the best. She found out on […]
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Like the ‘bamboo amid a storm,’ the return of People’s Ball
The People’s Ball, a festive gathering of Filipino Americans in the New York area, returned on August 22 paying tribute to health care professionals as well as economic frontline workers — FilAms and non-Filipinos alike — calling them the community’s Pandemic Vanguards. This is the first time People’s Ball, a companion event to the annual […]
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Liza Ty Beasca: A wrong call on cancer and a NYC teacher’s road to recovery
By Vicky Potenciano-Vitug Liza Ty Beasca was a Special Education Teacher in a Harlem public school. A devoted mentor, she made her classroom a joyful learning place for young children diagnosed with severe disabilities such as autism and Down Syndrome. Her love of teaching came to a disheartening end in 2011 when she was diagnosed […]
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Artist Kilusan Bautista appeals for support for daughter with CHARGE Syndrome genetic condition
Multimedia artist, writer, and performer Kilusan Bautista has opened a GoFundMe campaign as he shares the story of his daughter Phoenix who has developed CHARGE Syndrome, a genetic condition that affects multiple organ systems, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. In the last four years, Kilusan has stopped creating, writing, and performing as […]