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Nomination of PHL ambassador ‘step in the right direction,’ says top diplomat
By Cristina DC Pastor The nomination of Jose Manuel ‘Babe’ Romualdez as Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. “will help” normalize relations between the two countries, said Consul General in New York Tess Dizon-De Vega. “It’s a step in the right direction,” she said in an August 14 press conference with the FilAm media led by […]
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Babata: Percival Cunanan’s soap story
By Cristina DC Pastor Percival Cunanan and his wife Myrna epitomize the industrious immigrant couple. On top of their day jobs – Percy in IT and Myrna previously a manager in a bakeshop — they come home to Long Island to work some more. They make soap. As in bath soap. No rest for this […]
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Ballet that is haunting, eerie, and elegant
By Tricia J. Capistrano When I was 6, my mom sent me to ballet class in dark green leotards and tights while all the other girls wore pink and black. The ballet studios were in an L shaped building in Quezon City, in the Philippines. Each wing had several dance studios whose mirrors reflected the […]
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Tourism OIC Zeny Pallugna leaving post, cites double-digit growth in U.S. market
By Cristina DC Pastor After three years, Officer in Charge Zeny Pallugna of the Philippine Department of Tourism’s (PDOT) New York office will be returning to Manila. Zeny ends her tour of duty on August 21. She is expected in Manila by September 11, leaving her a couple of weeks to say goodbye to relatives […]
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Multimedia creative Martin Romero and his journey through fashion and fitness
By Dominic Garcia We met at Bryant Park on 42nd and Sixth. After exchanging pleasantries, we mused on how long it had been since we last saw each other while we made our way toward a Thai restaurant in Queens. “Probably during one of our friend’s birthdays,” he said. Multimedia creative Martin Romero is broad-shouldered […]
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How colonial mentality became our Stockholm Syndrome
By Metty Vargas-Pellicer It’s always an ordeal to make a trip home to the Philippines. The 14-hour trans-Pacific flight and another four hours in the air if you’re coming from the U.S. East Coast seem interminable. I didn’t know why I was making this trip again after just two years. Alone on the beach with […]
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Will Iglesia Ni Cristo be granted tax-exempt status? (Part 2)
By Cristina DC Pastor The purchase of Johnsonville gives the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) – or Church of Christ — a total of four locations in Connecticut. There are already INC churches in Bristol, Stamford and Windham — a total of 32 local congregations and missions in the Northeastern Seaboard, said Brother Joji Crisostomo, INC […]
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Iglesia Ni Cristo buys abandoned village in CT, opens it to public on Aug 26 (Part 1)
By Cristina Dc Pastor East Haddam town in Connecticut is a panoramic three-hour drive from New York City. It is the only home Laurie D’Aquila, a registered nurse and a lifelong resident, has known. When Johnsonville Village in East Haddam was struck by lightning in early 1970s, D’Aquila remembered the neighborhood burning. “I was 16, […]
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‘Sulong’ summit sounds call to build a U.S. Filipino youth movement
Youth and students across the Tri-State gathered in Jersey City’s City Council Chambers July 29 for the first-ever Sulong! Filipino Youth Leadership Summit. Participants ranged from young children to high school and college students to professionals. They came from schools all over the East Coast such as Binghamton University, New Jersey City University, and Hunter […]