The Conways: A Filipino American family

By Cristina DC Pastor They’re not the Conners where the head of the family, Dan, works as a contractor, and his wife Roseanne ran a diner in a fictional working-class suburb called Lanford in Illinois. We are talking about the Conways where the head of the family, George, is a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, and his […]

The ‘aswangs’ of Portland: Fantasy novel not political satire

When Marcella Leones relocates her family of aswang vampires from the Philippines to Portland, Oregon, she raises her grandchildren under strict rules so humans will not expose them. Her only wish is to give them a peaceful life, far away from the hunters and the Filipino government that attempted to exterminate them. Before she dies, […]

Top companies fund ‘Fight the Bias, Fight the Virus’ campaign

With nearly 2,000 reported incidences of discrimination and hate speech against the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community in the U.S. amidst COVID-19, the Ad Council’s Emmy-Award winning Love Has No Labels campaign has premiered “Fight the Virus. Fight the Bias” anew PSA to dispel the racism increasingly endured by the API community throughout the […]

What I’ve learned from staying home and living in dread of a pandemic

When my parents needed to teach me a lesson,  it usually began with, “Nung panahon ng Hapon…” as they recounted what were unspeakable hardships during the three years Japan had occupied the Philippines. They hid in bunkers, divided a piece of fish among 10 siblings, and feared neighbors with paper bags over their heads. Some […]

Amb. Romualdez assures U.S. lawmakers anti-terror law won’t be abused

Disney to create Melissa de la Cruz Studio to develop original stories

Disney is partnering with Filipino American author Melissa de la Cruz to create a new studio to develop and create stories, according to an announcement published in Hollywood Reporter. The Melissa de la Cruz Studio will work with new and established authors to create original content for development across multiple Disney platforms, it said. De […]

The world of Donald Trump, according to his niece

Much of what the world has seen of Donald Trump’s behavior is now being understood by way of a tell-all memoir written by his niece Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist. “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” portrays the American president as a psychologically impaired individual who craved parental […]

Kai Hayes publishes her leadership, personal, and spiritual ‘growth book’

As a young girl, Lilibeth Salonga Avelino already knew what she wanted. Coming from a family of modest means, she yearned to get a good education so she could achieve bigger things and provide a comfortable life for herself and her family. Her mother was a stay-at-home parent, and her father was in the military scraping […]

The best masks: Comfort over style

With health authorities continuing to urge face-covering in public to curb the spread of COVID-19, we’ve become familiar with the minor irritants of wearing masks: chafed ears, foggy glasses, snapped straps. The arrival of summer takes the potential discomfort up a notch, trapping sweat and heat under our facial sheaths. Keeping your face covered when […]