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ConGen Claro Cristobal on being a diplomat: ‘Looks like serendipity’
By Cristina DC Pastor The new Consul General in New York, Claro Cristobal, is the kind of storyteller you would want around a campfire or over a bottle of beer. His answers go around the moon and back, his responses to reporters’ question never direct. He loves to tell stories about his life and his […]
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Manila has no capability to ward off China: PHL national security chief
By Rene Pastor It was a candid focus group discussion between National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and members of the Filipino American community and the media. He indicated the Philippines is too weak to fend off China in their protracted feud over the West Philippine Sea and said Manila has no choice but to […]
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Cayetano and Pompeo meet, agree to ‘reinforce’ PHL-U.S. ties
By Rene Pastor Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met for the first time on June 21 where both agreed to work closely to reinforce the relationship between Manila and Washington. “Secretary Cayetano and Secretary Pompeo had an open and cordial interaction at the State Department. and […]
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What poverty looks like in the Philippines, according to VP Leni Robredo
By Cristina DC Pastor If poverty in the Philippines had a name, it would be Agutaya. An obscure island town in the northeastern part of Palawan, Agutaya has a population of more than 12K people spread across 10 barangays. To get to Agutaya, one travels 10 hours by boat from the larger and more tourist-friendly […]
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Social Security trust fund projected to start drying up in 2034
The Social Security Board of Trustees has released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, the same as projected last year, with 79 percent of […]
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Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon wants driver’s licenses for all New Yorkers
By Rene Pastor Cynthia Nixon sat listening intently at the head of a table as dozens of students poured out their frustrations at what they described as an overbearing police presence in their schools. She had come to the Center for Popular Democracy in Troutman Street in Brooklyn, a road festooned by colorful graffiti covering […]
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Will Gina Ortiz Jones become the first Filipina American in Congress?
By Rene Pastor A Filipina American is running for a Congress seat to represent the 23rd district in Texas in November. Gina Ortiz Jones, 37, who won the Democratic primary runoff, is a former Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq. She and her sister were raised by Victorina Ortiz, a single mother who graduated […]
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The Keystone Cops behind Duterte’s war on drugs
By Cristina DC Pastor Ever heard of the tokhang victim who rose from the dead? How about the riding-in-tandem assassin who fell off the bike? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Manny Mogato of Reuters shared some of the grim and hilarious episodes he has learned covering Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal ‘war on drugs.’ Almost 7,000 suspected […]
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Aries Dela Cruz: Not interested in becoming NYC mayor
By Cristina DC Pastor The appointment in April of Aries Dela Cruz as Manhattan Regional Representative for Governor Andrew Cuomo was both good and bad news for the Filipino community of New York City. Bad, because he had to step down as president of the emerging Filipino American Democratic Club, which he founded in 2016. […]