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5 members of Jersey family killed in car crash coming from July 4th vacation
The Filipino American community woke up to a one-two punch of shock and grief with reports that a New Jersey family of five figured in a car crash after coming from a Fourth of July vacation in Delaware. Killed instantly were postal worker and Navy veteran Audie Trinidad, 61, of Teaneck, New Jersey, and his […]
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Filipino chefs mourn the death of ‘idol’ Anthony Bourdain who inspired them
By Rene Pastor Filipino chefs in NYC are mourning the death of celebrity chef and travel writer Anthony Bourdain who, according to news reports, hanged himself June 8 in a hotel in France. “Anthony Bourdain’s death is a tragic loss to the culinary world,” said Jappy Afzelius, executive chef at Tsismis, a Philippine-inspired tapas & […]
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Toward the end, a hopeful outlook for the PHL (Part 2)
By Joel David When contemporary filmmaker Lawrence Fajardo, who has been specializing in the multicharacter film narratives that Bernal pioneered in, opted to return to his theater roots, he picked out a play, Herlyn Gail Alegre’s “Imbisibol,” and cast Bernardo in a role intended for a straight actor. Realizing that the BB’s strengths lay in […]
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Farewell Farewell, Bernardo Bernardo (Part 1)
By Joel David Rapid Pinoy pop-culture quiz: name another media celebrity with a double name. Aside from the usual nickname or fancy given name (Jonjon, Zsazsa, or, for political controversy, Bongbong), only a sufficiently elderly local observer might be able to remember Justo. And unlike Bernardo Bernardo, Panfilo C. Justo opted to use a pseudonym […]
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The life, the legacy, and the woman behind Reginald F. Lewis
One of the greatest love stories that has fascinated Filipino Americans is that of immigration lawyer Loida Nicolas Lewis and the legendary Reginald F. Lewis, who would become the richest African-American man in the 1980s. The two met on a blind date some 20 years earlier. Loida was then an up-and-coming lawyer who had just […]
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Guerrilla fighter Capt. Jose Red, 83
By Nestor Enriquez The Captain had fallen on January 4, 2018 in his hometown in Catanduanes province in the Philippines’s Bicol region. Jose Red, the World War II guerrilla fighter and Knights of Rizal Jersey City Chapter founding father, was a longtime Jersey City resident. He is proud of his participation in Los Banos raid, […]
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‘Painting doctor’ Mars Custodio, 75
By Cesar Lumba Mars Custodio was my closest friend when I was living in New Jersey. We went through the turbulent ‘70s and ‘80s together, often hanging out Friday nights at his house because he had been depressed by his oncology patients’ passing despite his herculean efforts. Mars could never attend the funerals and wakes […]
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Praise, outrage, tears over Alex Tizon’s ‘slave’ story
While the Pulitzer Award-winning journalist Alex Tizon’s essay “My Family’s Slave” has moved many Filipinos to tears, it has also sparked heated debate about attitudes toward having a housemaid in the family – still quite common in the Philippines. Does it constitute slavery if the family is harsh and exploitative, benevolence if the family is […]
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Defense Attaché Col. Orlando M. Suarez, 50
Philippine Defense Attaché to the U.S. Col. Orlando M. Suarez passed away on February 11 after suffering a stroke while on an official trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. He was 50 years old. “It is with great sadness that we announce the untimely passing of our beloved colleague and friend, Colonel Orlando M. Suarez,” says a […]