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Madison Avenue parade is on! Amb. Mario de Leon Jr. is honorary Grand Marshal
By Cristina DC Pastor The February 23 meeting between the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. and the community was a running tally of hits and misses: Hits: • PIDCI announced that former Consul General Mario de Leon Jr. is going to be the Honorary Grand Marshal, a new role in the organization’s 28-year history. • […]
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GABRIELA NY activists detained in Cotabato, later released
Social worker Jamy Drapeza and photographer Julie Jamora were part of a five-person delegation that was detained on February 22 on suspicion of being terrorists, and later released. Drapeza and Jamora – secretary-general and chairperson of GABRIELA NY, respectively — together with Dinah Anderson, Adam Shaw, and Tawanda Chandiwana, were reportedly accused by Philippine law […]
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Rod Pangesban’s months-long journey to a fiancé visa
By Cristina DC Pastor Rodrigo Pangesban and Alex Esteban met in Baguio in February of 2016, fell in love amid a sea of blooming flowers, and wed in New York the following year. If you think that was fast, wait till you hear how their application for a fiancé visa went by as if in […]
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Free tickets for balikbayan travelers
Two of the Philippines’s biggest names in business are teaming up to launch a balikbayan promo that gives loyal customers the chance to fly for free. LBC, the leader in “Padala,” and Philippine Airlines, Asia’s first airline, launched the “LBC Moves with PAL Balikbayan Promo” that gives their loyal customers free tickets to the Philippines. […]
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Bipartisan bill seeks to expand coverage of veterans compensation
U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, introduced on February 15 the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2018. February 18 marks 72 years since Rescission Act stripped benefits promised to Filipino veterans. The bipartisan legislation would restore the U.S. government’s promise […]
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Visa-free Taiwan: Not another typical Chinese destination
By Wendell Gaa Until now, Taiwan has honestly been a country which for so long I have overlooked in my lifetime destination bucket list. I’ve always assumed that it would be a mere extension of the coastal mainland Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai all placed into one island. As I’ve recently discovered, nothing […]
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U.S., Canada shows for GMA’s ‘Sikat Ka, Kapuso!’
GMA Pinoy TV is gearing up for the most star-studded event of the year as the hottest Kapuso royalties grace the much-awaited return of “Sikat Ka, Kapuso!” this April. Following the huge success from last year’s event in California, the Kapuso abroad can once again get the chance to see their idols perform live on […]
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333K Filipinos languishing in family petition wait list, NaFFAA calls for compassion
By Cristina DC Pastor The Philippines ranks behind Mexico for having the biggest number of family-based petitions, at 333,564 Filipinos waiting to join their families in the U.S. There are more than 1.25 million Mexicans in the immigration wait list. According to the latest figures from the National Visa Center’s November 2017 report to the […]
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Down Memory Lane on Roosevelt Avenue
By Cristina DC Pastor The long and disorganized stretch of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens — reachable by the 7 Train — was both familiar and unusual. Payag Restaurant at the corner of 52nd Street is now empty. Somewhere on 69th is Rosario’s Ihawan, a new and pleasant-looking restaurant. Rene and I were lured by the […]