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The Filipinos of Fleet Week
By Elton Lugay Times Square was a sea of white this week as about 6,000 sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen flocked town for the annual Fleet Week tradition. The FilAm spoke to some of the Filipino servicemen. One of them was Eileen Dueno, a hospital corpsman in the Navy. “For me Fleet Week is celebrating […]
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Mugged in Manila
By A. Mabini The first thing on my mind was that scene in “Ocean’s Eleven” when George Clooney’s character was recruiting a young pickpocket played by Matt Damon. The obvious difference was this was real life, and it was happening to me. Two guys blocked the entrance to the bus immediately after I got in, […]
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Jessica Sanchez defends ‘American Idol,’ says protest ‘not necessary’
By Elton Lugay Washington, D.C.— “It was completely fair. Phil deserved to win.” With those words, “American Idol” finalist Jessica Sanchez brushed aside a protest by a FilAm community group. Migrant Heritage Commission, which is based here in D.C., is asking Fox TV to disclose “in the interest of transparency” how the voting was counted […]
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Papa Ping and his one last act of loyalty
By Tony Joaquin When I was about 6 years old, I was allowed by my mother to go with my father Porfirio — better known as Ping – to some of his piano playing gigs around Manila. See, Papa was already a noted jazz pianist long before I was born. In fact, he was known […]
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‘Aids no longer scares me’
By Elton Lugay “Aids is no longer a death sentence,” proclaimed Willie Espera of the Brooklyn public library as we walked with his partner and 45,000 others around Central Park for the May 20 Annual Aids Walk New York. Joining the walk was important for Willie, who is HIV- positive. “I’m doing this because I […]
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Looking for a bone marrow donor at a Santacruzan
This Sunday, May 27, as we revel in our Maytime Santacruzan and get lost in the maze of our festive street fair, let’s stop by the Be a Match table to ask how we can help Kristen “Krystle” Felten. Krystle is a 27-year-old Filipina-Mexican from California who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in December. […]
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No regrets, Jessica Sanchez
By Elton Lugay On May 21, I stuck my neck out for Jessica Sanchez. I proclaimed in a rather self-indulgent essay – that was widely published and reposted – that the 16-year-old Filipina-Mexican-American would be the new American Idol. Why did I do that? As a long-time viewer of the show, I was secure in […]
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MoMA screens ‘Ang Babae sa Septic Tank’ till May 28
Catch “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank,” screening at The Museum of Modern Art from May 25 to 28. The film premiered in New York on May 24 as part of MoMA’s annual ContemporAsian series showcasing independent Asian cinema. The 87-minute movie stars Eugene Domingo in what is billed as a film within a film. Protagonists […]
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An ‘evocative’ collection of diaspora stories
By Maria Batayola “Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul” Compiled and edited by Reni Roxas Tahanan Books May 2012 Reni Roxas, publisher of Tahanan Books, hits a home run with her new book, “Hanggang Sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul.” It is wonderful chicken soup for the soul for Filipinos, […]
