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Thank you for your service, Victor Malabayabas
The death of Victor Malabayabas on August 20 at the hands of an unidentified robber has once again incensed the Filipino American community as well as Americans who believe military veterans deserve better. Malabayabas, 60, was busy bringing groceries into his home in the Canton neighborhood of Baltimore when the unknown assailant approached him to ask […]
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A quintessential Filipino leader
The FilAm Editorial That is not a knock-down on Fidel V. Ramos. Neither is it fulsome praise. Ramos bent like a reed, adjusting his positions during his lifetime of being an army general-turned-politician. He finally served as president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He defected and dumped his cousin, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., at […]
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Cherie Gil: Artist in a hurry
By Joel David There will always be ambivalence surrounding the Filipino word for performer: artista. The word it suggests in English is in many ways opposed to the notion of an artist, standing apart from issues of popularity and financial success. This is why the first film star recognized as National Artist, Nora Aunor, underwent […]
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Jesusa Sonora is gone; long live Susan Roces
By Joel David Susan Roces’s recent passing made me realize at first how she could have been a star in Philippine politics as well, as the best First Lady and First Mother we never had. I’d voted for her late husband, actor-producer and National Artist Fernando Poe Jr., and later for her daughter, Grace Poe, […]
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Good night, Mr. Almeda, 104
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 […]
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The last seven weeks
By Rowena Cruz I love this picture of my mother. This was taken in February 1977 as she boarded a Korean Air Lines flight from Manila to San Francisco. She left behind her husband and three young children in the Philippines to build a life for us in this country. She worked hard, saved, and […]
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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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Goodnight, Irene
By Lindy Rosales Makeup and hair stylist Irene Zapanta passed away on July 20 after a long bout with cancer. More than a beautician, she was, to people who knew her, a woman of “class and elegance,” a trusted confidante, a friend to everyone. ‘Everyone’ meant the prominent community personalities whose hair she had fashioned, […]
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The reluctant president
The FilAm Editorial Of all the people who became head of state in the Philippines, Benigno Simeon Aquino III – Noynoy to all of us — is one who would rather be somewhere else. He did not aspire to the presidency; it was thrust upon him when his beloved mother, former president Cory Aquino, died. […]