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It wasn’t about coming to the U.S., says rehab center CEO Richard Holsman
By Elton Lugay Physical therapy was not the vocation of choice of Leyte-born Dr. Richard Holsman. He wanted to become a medical doctor. But he also wanted to be on the safe side. “I didn’t want to take up nursing or Biology, I wanted a fallback in case I don’t make it,” said Richard, whose […]
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Being ‘tisay’ and feeling very conspicuous in the Philippines (Part 2)
By Lara Stapleton UST is where the incident took place. M. Evelina Galang, Amalia Bueno, Fidelito Cortes and I read, with Zack Linmark moderating. There was a tremendous turnout, with what looked like a hundred and fifty students, and a lovely reception afterwards. As Fidelito was reading, I caught from the corner of my eye, […]
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Balikbayan, murky, post-modern (Part 1)
By Lara Stapleton My grandparents had come to visit us before my family left to spend a year in the Philippines in the late ‘70s, when I was 10 years old. As pasalubong (I didn’t yet know the word), they brought two small clay models of what I suppose to be pre-Hispanic stoves. These objects […]
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The Philippine Consulate attempts an intervention (Part 3)
By Cristina DC Pastor The Philippine Consulate was saddened by the breakup of AFTA, more so by the spectacle that Filipino teachers, members of the noblest profession and role models in the community, were hopelessly divided. In one gathering at the Philippine Center, Consul General Mario de Leon pulled Ernesto Pamolarco aside and asked how […]
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No comment from AFTA leadership: ‘We have moved on’ (Part 2)
By Cristina DC Pastor I met Lilia Juele on account of my TOFA-NY duties, and we became Facebook friends soon after. Later, we would chance upon each other at a Philippine Consulate Independence Day reception in June, sharing a quick “hello.” At that time, AFTA had already lost many of its leaders. But I wasn’t […]
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INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING PROJECT: Anatomy of a community organization: Teachers battle over AFTA (Part 1)
By Cristina DC Pastor This is the story of a 25-year-old teachers organization created in 1989 to campaign for an extension of the H1-B visa so that Filipino teachers could continue to work legally in the United States. The following year, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 was passed under then President George H. […]
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Ferguson and Filipinos: What’s it got to do with us?
By Erwin de Leon The protests in Ferguson, Missouri have calmed down, in stark contrast to the initial days of violence incited by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white policeman and spurred by a militarized police response and general insensitivity to the majority African American community. The issue, […]
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Municipal IDs seen to benefit all New Yorkers not just undocumented immigrants
By Cristina Dc Pastor Certain things will change when one enters a New York City building beginning 2015. Instead of showing the building security a driver’s license or a passport, a New York resident can show a municipal identity card. The ID card will be available in January to all New York residents not limited […]
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Where were you when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated?
By Daniel de la Rosa Thirty-one years. It’s been that long since I got on a California Bus Line that would take me to the airport to welcome Ninoy Aquino home from exile. Back then, the red-colored bus would go up past Nayong Pilipino, circle around and drop you at a stop right beside the […]