By Bel Molina On Sunday, June 5, 2022, several runners in New York City gathered to celebrate the 124th Philippine Independence. On June 12, 1898 — 124 years ago — the Philippine Declaration of Independence was proclaimed by Filipino revolutionary forces. It asserted the sovereignty and independence of the Philippines from Spain’s colonial rule of […]
By Wanna Ver, Atmi Pertiwi, Leonardo Taddei, Jody Fish, Adolfo Canales Recognizing the ‘Golden Age’ myth A year after her child’s birth, Wanna Ver reconnected with Michelle so she could come clean about her father. “Michelle almost fell over”, Wanna recalled. “She had to put her hands on the ground to hold herself up and […]
By Wanna Ver, Atmi Pertiwi, Leonardo Taddei, Jody Fish, Adolfo Canales Wanna Ver spent her early childhood in a lavish Forbes Park mansion flanked by foreign diplomats’ homes. As the youngest daughter of General Fabian Ver, Ferdinand Marcos’ most trusted ally and loyal military officer and close childhood friend, Wanna was kept under close watch […]
By Wendell Gaa This month marks the 30th year anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots, an incensed reaction to the verdict in the Rodney King case. In 1991, white police officers who had brutally beaten African American Rodney King in an arrest gone awry, were all acquitted by an all-white jury in suburban LA. I […]
UPDATE: Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced on May 19 that a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named USS Telesforo Trinidad (DDG 139). A sustained campaign to name a U.S. Navy warship after Filipino sailor Telesforo Trinidad has the support of Filipino American organizations and mostly Democrat congressional leaders. California Rep. Sara […]
By Sarah Derouin Ricky Punzalan has his own layered history with the Philippine collections. “The University has a record of bringing Filipino scholars, during the early colonial years up to even the present, to study here,” he says, adding that he was one of these students. When he returned to U-M as a faculty member, […]
By Sarah Derouin The University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus is 8,199 miles from Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Spread throughout multiple campus locations is one of the largest collections of historical Filipino artifacts outside of the archipelago nation. But how did such a robust collection end up at a Midwestern university? It’s […]
Celestino Gonzales Almeda passed away peacefully on March 27 surrounded by his family in Rockville, Maryland. He was 104. He was the first recipient of the Filipino WWII Veterans’ U.S. Congressional Gold Medal presented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in a historic ceremony in October 2017 under the Capitol dome. “It was […]
“After many years, countless meetings, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, I’m proud to share that the Historic Filipinotown Eastern Gateway will be installed and unveiled this spring,” said Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who represents Historic Filipinotown on the Los Angeles City Council. “This project has been a labor of love by so many […]