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Through grit and grief, Bergenfield Councilman Salvador Deauna found politics
By Cristina DC Pastor Salvador ‘Buddy’ Deauna turned 80 in May. After nine years as councilman of Bergenfield, New Jersey, he still could not believe how he ended up in politics. “When people ask me how I got into politics, I always say it was totally unexpected,” he said in an interview with The FilAm. […]
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Filipinos are tired of the rampant corruption, but is Snap Election the answer?
By Ricky Rillera In a political landscape riddled with scandal, cynicism, and eroding public trust, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano has thrown a grenade into the national conversation: a call for a snap election that would require all top national officials—President, Vice President, Senators, and House Representatives—to resign and bar themselves from running again. […]
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Mayoral candidate James Solomon ‘absolutely’ will not allow ICE to enter Jersey City
By Cristina DC Pastor Out of the seven candidates vying to succeed Steven Fulop as mayor of Jersey City, James Solomon is working to distinguish himself in a crowded field. First elected to the City Council in 2017 after an upset victory against the political machine, Solomon—a cancer survivor—has built a reputation for pushing reforms […]
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Bidding bullshit
By Mary Lou Cunanan Let’s stop pretending this is normal. Sarah Discaya and her husband have turned government bidding into a personal slot machine—rigged so they always hit the jackpot. With nine construction firms under their control, they’ve cornered ₱30 billion worth of DPWH projects, most of them flood-control contracts that never seem to deliver. […]
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Eve Cho Guillergan: Filipino-Korean lawyer aspiring to be NYC civil court judge
By Catherine Espejo Born in Korea to a Filipino father and a Korean mother, Eve Cho Guillergan is charting a path in New York City toward Law and Justice. Most recently, she won the Democratic primary for Civil Court judge. It was an outstanding accomplishment that, she acknowledged, boosted her confidence. Guillergan, 61, told The […]
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How the Filipino ‘mangkukulam’ found its way into American horror fiction
By Daphne Fama “When your grandmother was pregnant with your mom, I spent all night with a bolo, ready to cut the tongue off of any aswang who wanted to eat your mom up,” my grandfather once told me, his smile both teasing and proud. Carigara, the little town where my family had spent generations, […]
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Typhoons, testosterones and caveman politics
By Mary Lou Cunanan Nothing says “Philippines” quite like the country being battered by four typhoons in two weeks while politicians challenge each other to fistfights. Crising, Dante, Emong, and Krosa have made sure we’re soaked, stranded, sliding down mountains, or clutching onto banana trees in knee-deep water — and yet, our leaders seem preoccupied […]
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New York City closes Roosevelt Hotel arrival center for migrants
By Lindy Rosales The Roosevelt Hotel, which served as the official processing center for asylum seekers, has closed its doors on July 2, with Mayor Eric Adams declaring that “New York City…will always be, a city of immigrants.” Located on 45th Street in midtown Manhattan, the former hotel opened on May 19, 2023 as the […]
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Rally for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani energizes grassroots New Yorkers
NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani joined more than 200 working-class New Yorkers in Jackson Heights, Queens to rally and get out the vote ahead of the June 24 primary. At the June 21 rally, event organizers noted their long-time support for Zohran Mamdani, saying that the city’s working-class majority, including communities of color and immigrants, […]