By Karen Joy Pangantihon It felt like I traveled through three flights over 22 hours in the air, in the course of over 40 hours just to hug my mom and dad. As soon I got off the last plane on the way to Cabadbaran, my mother’s hometown, in Agusan del Norte province I knew […]
By Gretheline Bolandrina As the number of infections with the new COVID-19 variants continues to rise, frontline workers are being pushed beyond breaking point. Coping with the stress and anxiety is a struggle for many health care workers as it is for nursing students who are just getting their feet wet. In an online collaboration, student […]
Jason Benjamin Alinea Tengco The Biden-Harris Administration has announced several political appointees to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Among them, Filipino American Jason Benjamin Alinea Tengco, White House Liaison for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The group will work alongside OPM civil servants in support of OPM’s mission and the Biden Administration’s […]
By Anthony Advincula On a recent Monday, Maribel Lapuz got up at 4:30 a.m. The 46-year-old immigrant from the Philippines braved the sub-zero weather and took the train from Jersey City, NJ to a nursing home in Brooklyn, NY, where she has worked six days a week as a caregiver since last February. A thousand […]
By Loida Nicolas Lewis Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes Jr. retired from the Philippine diplomatic corps at the mandatory age of 65, in 2014, after 35 years of service. But luckily for us living in these troubled times, he released his book, “A Memory of Time” before the year 2020 ended. In the words of Gemma […]
By Zia Kalong Suyomano is a virtual platform focused on cultural learning experiences touching on local languages, indigenous tribal cultures and medicine, mythology, traditional martial arts, food and beyond. Suyomano is made up of two unique Tagalog words: “Suyo” which means gentle affection and “mano” which is a gesture of respect. “We believe that bringing forth the […]
By Vicky Potenciano-Vitug As a young child, Linda Bautista Jimenez experienced one of the most painful and traumatic experiences in her life: Her father abandoned their family. She will never forget her mother’s humiliation, anguish and despair. Nanay Berta suddenly became the sole breadwinner for her three young daughters: Ligaya, 15 years old; Betty, 12; and […]
By Cristina DC Pastor Kalaya’an Mendoza is the co-founder of Across Frontlines, an organization that works alongside human rights activists to keep them safe during mass actions. He has been engaged in nonviolent civil resistance for the past two decades, including the years he spent as a grassroots organizer and field director for Amnesty International […]
By Cristina DC Pastor “I am Filipino. I am not a nurse. I just play one in my husband’s sex fantasies.” Trust comic Patricia Dinglasan to find humor amid a depressing pandemic and mold it into a hilarious punchline. For this budding Manhattan comedian, let’s just say the pandemic is a wellspring of jokes and other […]