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Community celebrates 116th Independence Day, PHL as a ‘comeback economy’
Amid the festive colors of Filipiniana gowns and tables of Philippine food and cocktails, Consul General Mario de Leon Jr. welcomed the hundreds of well-wishers who came to celebrate the 116th anniversary of Philippine Independence on June 12. First the good news. De Leon announced Manila is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. […]
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A weekend full of festivities, from the NJ Santacruzan to the NYC parade
By Megan Villarin This year, our Santacruzan mass at the St. Raphael-Holy Angels Filipino Parish in Hamilton, New Jersey was held inside the gym. Regardless, it was still a spectacular event. I watched the procession of the statue of the Virgin Mary, the sagalas and their escorts coming into the gym and taking their seats. […]
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Is FilAm unity attainable? Weigh in, be heard at UniPro’s May 31 summit
The Pilipino American Unity for Progress is holding its 4th annual conference on May 31 on the same weekend as the Philippine Independence Day Parade. “Summit 2014: Your Move” initiates the delegates’ chance to take control and act on where their passions lie, UniPro said in a press statement. “We want to challenge our attendees […]
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Nightclub impresario named to White House commission for Asian Americans
By Elton Lugay Being named a commissioner at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) was a total surprise for radio/TV personality Billy Dec. First, he did not know such a government agency exists, and second, for one who is known throughout Chicago as a “nightlife impresario,” he did not expect […]
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Irma Bajar honored with Stonewall award for her LGBT activism
By Cristina DC Pastor In the summer of 2011, a young man put a gun to Irma Bajar’s head as she was walking to her home in Brooklyn. The man seemed angry and shouted slurs at her gender after he grabbed her phone. Irma went home shaken, but did not report the incident to the […]
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Transgender model Geena Rocero to speak at NextDayBetter’s May 3 event
For transgender model Geena Rocero, 30, coming out appeared to have occurred in stages, one exhilarating episode at a time. The first time was at age 15 when she won a beauty pageant in the Philippines, then at 19 when she underwent a gender reassignment surgery in Thailand. That surgery would pave the way for […]
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PIDCI celebrates 25th year; Grand Marshals pay homage to heroes
Dr. Emilio Quines and his wife Fely, also a doctor, are a private couple not used to the limelight. They are quite uncomfortable being called a ‘power couple’ being this year’s Grand Marshals who will lead a large Philippine Independence Day Parade on Madison Avenue on June 1. So at the recent Grand Marshal Gala […]
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Growing up FilAm, filling the holes in my heritage
By Daniel Griffith “Um, I’m Japanese! I think.” … Was my response, walking up three flights of stairs past the library in the first grade, to that question: “So, what are you?” That’s a fated question, which many to this day dread answering, even hearing. But it never bothered me. Six-year-old me knew they were […]
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‘If you’ve got one drop of ‘bagoong’ in you, then you’re Filipino:’ Fred Cordova
By Daniel Buenafe Griffith He was a humble man with a commanding presence. I can only imagine what that looked like 50-plus years ago, when he was a young university student, an aspiring journalist, a community activist, or just a mischievous boy pursuing his college sweetheart. But we’ll save those stories for actual writers to […]