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On Global Filipinos: 1st Filipina mayor in England is daughter of an OFW
By Loida Nicolas Lewis Last June 24, Cynthia Barker was sworn in as mayor of Hertsmere Borough during the council’s annual meeting. She became the first Philippine-born mayor of a borough in the United Kingdom. The handover was done virtually instead of formally in a ceremony where the outgoing Mayor Councillor Rabbi Alan Plancey would […]
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In Maria Ressa film, a peek into the beginning of strongman rule in the PHL
By Cristina DC Pastor A documentary five years in the making: From 2015 when Rappler journalist Maria Ressa interviewed undecided presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte, to 2020 when Ressa was convicted of cyberlibel, a law widely seen as an attempt by the Duterte government to silence journalists. Watching filmmaker Ramona Diaz’s “A Thousand Cuts,” one wonders: […]
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An ugly brawl over a bar’s name
By Cristina DC Pastor It’s been called an “uprising,” this outcry involving a Washington D.C. wine bar and its name. It began when a local paper announced the opening of Barkada Wine Bar on July 29, pointing out that while it chose to name it after the Filipino word “barkada” — meaning the closeness of […]
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Coronavirus lockdown sees unexpected boon for comics artists
On March 3, The Comic Arts Workshop held its last live event in Manhattan’s Chelsea district. That night’s featured guest speaker was Valiant editor Lysa Hawkins. Since then the workshop has hosted David Saylor from Scholastic, Heidi MacDonald from the Beat, Alison Wilgus from Graphic Novel TK and Jaydee Rosario from Unstoppable Comics. All on […]
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Netflix’s Top 10 most popular original movies
Netflix — normally very secretive when it comes to any kind of ratings information — has allowed us a glimpse behind the curtain and revealed its biggest hit movies of all time (as ranked by number of views in the first month of release). Review the surprising list counting down from 10th to first place, […]
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Joanna Glass: Half a rock band
Joanna Glass is half of a two-person pop and rock band called Glasspirits. This Filipino American dynamo who grew up in Long Beach, California is a guitarist, a keyboardist, and a classically trained violinist. On top of that, she does vocals and writes songs. Abe Perez, the other half of the band, is a Cuban-born […]
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Noel Francisco steps down as Solicitor General
Solicitor General Noel Francisco has stepped down from the Department of Justice on July 3. The first Asian American to be confirmed by the Senate as solicitor general said representing the United States before the Supreme Court is “one of the greatest jobs in the law.” “It has been the honor of my professional career […]
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A wedding in the woods with seven guests
By Cristina DC Pastor It was a wedding planned a year ahead. When the Coronavirus contaminated the world and made New York a public health hotspot, Andre ‘Dindi’ Zabala and his bride Kris Bayos decided to just go through with it “not knowing if the situation would improve or get worse.” So, on a hot […]
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28M renters face evictions
An estimated 28 million renters in the U.S. are facing evictions as states begin lifting their COVID-19-related eviction moratoriums in the coming months. In April, most U.S. states imposed some manner of lockdown to control the spread of the virus, restricting most workers to their homes. Unemployment rates shot to 14.7 percent, according to the […]