-
‘If you’ve got one drop of ‘bagoong’ in you, then you’re Filipino:’ Fred Cordova
By Daniel Buenafe Griffith He was a humble man with a commanding presence. I can only imagine what that looked like 50-plus years ago, when he was a young university student, an aspiring journalist, a community activist, or just a mischievous boy pursuing his college sweetheart. But we’ll save those stories for actual writers to […]
-
Filipino-run immigrants’ center in Queens fighting to stay open
By Cristina DC Pastor In the last six years, the Bayanihan Filipino Community Center in Queens has been a birthing place for breakout movements, a laboratory for progressive ideas. Today, this community stomping ground in Woodside, adjacent to Krystal’s Bakeshop, is approaching extinction. A fundraiser is being organized to keep it alive. “We face another […]
-
How one middle-class family made the wrenching decision to leave the Philippines
By Cristina DC Pastor ‘How Sweet the Mango, No? The Journey of a Hispanic Amerasian’ By Matthias Mendezona BookSurge/CreateSpace Publishing May 2009 Much like Forrest Gump, Matthias Mendezona found himself playing cameo roles through various episodes in his country’s history. Like the Tom Hanks character, Mendezona emerged from a series of debacles in his life […]
-
A bevy of accomplished women responds to Makilala’s search for a co-host
By Cristina DC Pastor We were only looking for one but nearly 20 women responded to Makilala’s call for a fourth co-host for this groundbreaking TV talk show aired through Queens Public Television. A diplomat, a Broadway actress, a lawyer, a nurse, a grandmother, corporate executives, performance artists, grassroots organizers, and many more have sent […]
-
Envoy urges UPenn students: ‘Raise profile of Filipino Americans’
“Elevate the presence of the Filipino Americans in the U.S.” That was the message of Consul General Mario de Leon, Jr. to the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Philippine Association during a presentation in October. The symposium was held to commemorate Filipino American Heritage Month, where De Leon was the keynote speaker. The consul general cited […]
-
Nelson Navarro memoir to launch Jan. 16 at Philippine Center
The international launch of Nelson A. Navarro’s memoir, “The Half-Remembered Past,” will be held at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue on January 16th at 7 p.m. Journalist, biographer and TV talk show host Navarro is now based in Manila, but he lived in New York for 17 years as a political exile from the […]
-
Feast of the Three Kings officially concludes the season of seasons
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. In our Christian Doctrine classes as youngsters, when we were able to read stories accompanied by multi-colored illustrations of Christmas, the Three Kings’ significant role was always part of that season of seasons. The Philippines held the reputation as one of the countries that had the longest celebration of the […]
-
FilAms brave icy weather to meet new Mayor Bill de Blasio
By Elton Lugay On January 5, thousands of New Yorkers braved the frigid arctic weather to meet the new mayor of New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio opened his official residence at Gracie Mansion to thousands of city residents, including a dozen Filipino Americans. The 6’5” former Public Advocate towered over the FilAms, bending […]
-
Anakbayan NJ commends passage of in-state tuition law in New Jersey
Anakbayan New Jersey hailed the passage on December 20 of the In-State Tuition Bill, which was signed into law by Governor Chris Christie. New Jersey becomes the 16th state where undocumented youth may qualify for in-state tuition rates at colleges and universities. Originally nicknamed the NJ DREAM Act, the bill had initially opened tuition assistance […]