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In honor of my father, sweet vindication for veterans
By Wendell Gaa There I was, visiting the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, for the first time in my life.There was a very special reason I had to be there. I was to claim a Plaque of Recognition Posthumous Award honoring the work which my father, the late Ambassador Willy […]
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The shining example of Greta Thunberg
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. As a 15-year-old, Greta Thunberg was this awkward, eccentric girl known to protest all by herself before the steps of the Swedish Parliament calling attention to her government’s lack of action on climate change. What a difference a year makes! Today, Greta Thunberg leads a global army of teenage environmental […]
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Pinoys, poverty, and politics
By Attorney Johnson Lazaro Pinoy poverty The last time the metrics were done, the Philippine economy was chugging along with a little more than 7 percent annual growth, surpassing its Asian neighbors, even China and India. That growth hasn’t been inclusive, leaving more than 25 percent of the Filipino people below the poverty level, with […]
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FILAMSPEAK: Should the U.S. ban the entry of Leila de Lima’s jailers?
A U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee proposal has made some Philippine officials anxious and very angry. The proposal wants to deny entry to the U.S. of those responsible for the “politically motivated imprisonment” of Senator Leila de Lima. De Lima, a critic of President Duterte, has been detained since 2017 for alleged drug trafficking. The […]
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‘We were on the same side of the barricade. We will always remain close’ (Part 2)
By Cristina DC Pastor The FilAm: When you see the situation in Hong Kong, what goes through your mind? Eric Baculinao: All youth movements in history have always been driven by a strong sense of idealism. That’s true for the Hong Kong protest movement or even other earlier movements in Chinese history. It’s true for […]
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Eric Baculinao: First Quarter Storm memories and 48 years in China (Part 1)
By Cristina DC Pastor BEIJING – Almost half a century ago, he was the fiery leader of the Kabataang Makabayan. Eric Baculinao has had an interesting odyssey from the barricades of the Diliman Commune in the 1970s to winning an Emmy Award for NBC where he is still the Beijing bureau chief. Eric, 68, is […]
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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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Philippines and China: A delicate friendship
By Cristina DC Pastor BEIJING — Like two estranged brothers, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping met here on August 29 to see how they can work around the issues that divide them. The recent Summit Meeting was Duterte’s fifth visit to China, but actually his eight meeting with Xi, said Philippine Ambassador Jose Santiago […]
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No freedom for the Monster of Calauan
By Cristina DC Pastor College sweethearts Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez were about to head home that ill-fated night of June 28, 1993. The U.P. Los Baños (UPLB) students – seated in front beside the driver — were waiting for the Toyota Tamaraw to fill up with passengers when a group of armed men swooped […]