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N.J. judge accused of ‘harboring fugitive boyfriend’ fighting to keep her job
By Cristina DC Pastor This is the convoluted story of a Filipina judge in New Jersey accused in 2013 of “harboring” a fugitive boyfriend, cleared in 2018 of all charges, and is now fighting to keep her position as a member of the bench. Superior Judge Carlia Brady, 47, was suspended without pay, lost her […]
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Albany hospital violates anti-trafficking law in hiring of Filipino RNs: union
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) filed a lawsuit on October 15 against Albany Medical Center (AMC) alleging violations of the human trafficking law in the hiring of Filipino nurses. The federal complaint cites the Philippine Recruitment Program that AMC began in 2002. In the last 17 years, AMC has recruited almost 600 nurses […]
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The spirituality of lawyering
By Johnson Lazaro Just this week I got a call from a woman whose dad just died from a car accident, a family man whose house was foreclosed, an undocumented worker caught by immigration agents and detained, and another individual nabbed for embezzlement and whose mother was sobbing in my office. These are brand new […]
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Jonathan Wong: The youngest FilAm politician
By Maricar CP Hampton & Cristina DC Pastor When Jonathan ‘Jon’ Wong was a young boy, he had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. He was misdiagnosed by multiple doctors, but two Filipina doctors saved his life. “It was truly a miracle that he survived a four-day ruptured appendix,” recalled Jon’s mother, the Philippine-born Grace Sideco […]
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40 years ago Rodel Rodis and Edna Austria got married
By Loida Nicolas Lewis On Sunday, July 28, 2019, Rodel and Edna (née Austria) Rodis celebrated their 40 years of marriage at Colma Community Center in California. Around 200 guests attended the renewal of marriage vows with Father Rey Culaba officiating, this time with their three adult sons Carlo, 33; Daniel, 30; and Eric, 27, […]
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Nurse’s daughter Mina Malik is a candidate for Queens District Attorney
By Cristina Dc Pastor Mina Malik, the daughter of a nurse from the Philippines and a South Asian father, is running for the position of Queens District Attorney. Growing up in Queens, she was attacked outside of her school and was hospitalized for a week. The daughter of immigrants and raised in the working-class communities […]
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From cop to lawyer, the arc of Edward Carrasco’s career
By Cristina DC Pastor Back when he was a police officer, Edward Carrasco was putting bad guys away. Now, after 22 years with the NYPD, he has jumped the tracks and is on a different career path. He is now a lawyer who, at some point, may wind up possibly defending some of the bad […]
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Camille M. Ng: International arbitration lawyer and limerick writer
By Maricar CP Hampton Lawyers of Filipino ethnicity are a drop in the bucket, so to speak, comprising less than 2 percent of more than a million lawyers in the U.S. While we know some of them to be immigration or personal injury attorneys, or to work in legal departments, a rare few like Camille […]
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Lawyer Joe Sayas, Jr. receives Presidential Award as the ‘voice of Filipinos in U.S. courtrooms’
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. L.A. lawyer Joe Sayas, Jr. has rendered more than a quarter of a century of service, championing the cause of the working class. Described as “the voice of Filipinos in U.S. courtrooms,” he was recently awarded the 2018 Presidential Awards bestowed in Malacañang on 25 “outstanding” overseas Filipinos and foreign-based […]