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Albert Guerzon pens tribute song for his father who died from COVID-19
In April 2020, Broadway singer-songwriter Albert Guerzon (“The Visitor,” “Mamma Mia!”) lost his father, Robert Guerzon, to COVID-19. Along with thousands of New Yorkers, the Guerzon family was at the mercy of limited ventilators and hospital beds. In the end, Albert bid his father farewell through a telephone screen and a prayer. In the summer […]
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Leila Policarpio: Representing N.Y. State at the Macy’s marching band
By Cristina DC Pastor Every year since she was a kid, Leila Policarpio, her parents and elder sister would watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, the world’s largest,on NBC. The morning tradition usually begins with the East Hills, New York family getting up for a special holiday breakfast and then turning on the TV for a […]
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Well-loved Ridgway, PA Mayor Guillermo Udarbe, 81
Doctor Guillermo Udarbe, who was mayor of Ridgway, Pennsylvania for 12 years, died unexpectedly on November 11, according to an obituary announcement. He was 81. He is survived by his wife Gloria Aragones Udarbe of Ridgway, daughters Cherry Pie Udarbe Clark of Fairview, PA and Charina Udarbe Felix of Lutherville, Maryland; five grandchildren Isabella Udarbe […]
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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 […]