This year, get ready to celebrate with the rest of the world as Instituto Cervantes brings back the DÍA INTERNACIONAL DEL LIBRO (International Book Day) to the streets of Manila. Celebrated annually by Instituto Cervantes centers all around the globe, DÍA DEL LIBRO has in its roots the centuries-old Catalan traiditon of exchanging books for…
APRIL 15 started out as a day of celebration of Patriots Day in Boston — commemorating the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775. Some 23,000 participants from around the world joined the annual Boston Marathon, while more than 500,000 spectators came to cheer them on. Just two hours after the winners crossed the…
EITHER laws are not properly implemented and followed, or someone’s pursuing a vendetta against the Tubbattaha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) — a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the Philippines’ most prized possessions. It took three strenuous months for the Philippine and US governments to complete the salvaging operations on the USS Guardian, which…
IT WAS an epic battle that was bound to happen at some point. Both of Filipino descent, Conservative blogger and political pundit, Michelle Malkin and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant, Jose Antonio Vargas locked horns in a battle of wits over immigration issues on Twitter. Coming from extremely opposing ends of the political spectrum,…
IT IS identified in every contingency plan that disasters, terrorism and war, civil disturbances can all precipitate evacuation. Ironically, the imminent danger looming in the Korean peninsula has not yet prompted the Philippine government to evacuate at least 40,000 Filipinos embroiled in the tension. The situation remains at Alert Level 1 or “heightened alertness,” following…
AFTER vetoing the proposed Magna Carta for the Poor, Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III faced the ire of The Catholic Bishops of the Conference (CBCP) — including the proponents of the said bill. Executive Secretary of the CBCP–National Secretariat for Social Action Fr. Edu Gariguez expressed disappointment over the president’s decision. “If this government will…
BEFORE we look forward to Easter Sunday, we are given a week-long final reminder of the implications of Christ’s Resurrection, from the cross to our daily lives. Far more than the happy ending is the journey we must all share with God’s only begotten son. Last Sunday, newly installed Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to be…
FILIPINO-American Councilmember Antonio “Tony” Cartagena of the City of Walnut is urging permanent resident aliens to take advantage of attending a free US Application Workshop through the Filipino American Service Group, Incorporated (FASGI) at the Walnut Senior Community Center, 21215, La Puente Road, Walnut, CA 91789, on Saturday, April 6, 2013, from 9am to 4pm….
The snake oil scam of yesteryears took decades to travel from town to town. Obviously, that saved a lot of “potential” victims. With the advent of the internet age, scams, in general, including fraudulent health products and unfounded “food supplement” claims are disseminated with lightning speed around the globe through the world wide web, reaching…
SMOKING kills, as advertisements would say it, but it remains a choice. If you smoke, you know that cigarettes are harmful to your health, but you still choose to do it, no matter how society tries to stop you. This week, professionals in the international tobacco industry, visitors and exhibitors are all looking forward to…
Habemus Papam. “We have a pope.” The Vatican has finally chosen its new pontiff in 76-year-old Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has been named as Pope Francis. As the symbolic white smoke clears and rejoicing among Catholics linger, expectations from the new pontiff remain high — will he be able to revive the Catholic…
For 2013-2014 term CERRITOS – Filipino American Cerritos City Councilman Mark E. Pulido was elected to serve as Mayor Pro Tem for the 2013-2014 term by his city council colleagues at the Council’s annual reorganization meeting on the evening of March 13, 2013. The meeting began with outgoing mayor Jim Edwards being honored for his…
And so the conclave begins. 115 cardinals, representing all Roman Catholics from all over the world, have gathered in Vatican City to elect the Church’s new pope. Only when a cardinal receives at least 77 of the votes and accepts the new position will the white smoke come out from the Sistine Chapel chimney-signaling that…
MARCH 8 is International Women’s Day. Historically, this day has been observed since the early 1900’s — “a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies,” saysInternationalWomensDay.com. “In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman’s…
TODAY, the world has 1,426 billionaires (people with personal wealth of $1 billion as of January) accounting to a total net worth of $5.4 trillion. 11 of them are Filipinos. “Resurgent asset prices are the driving force behind the rising wealth of the super-rich around the globe. While last year almost as many fortunes fell…
CERRITOS – Two Filipino-Americans are vying for the City Council of Cerritos in the March 5 local election. Current City Planning Commissioner Frank Aurelio Yokoyama and retired Social Worker Alejandro Estella are running for the first time, to fill two open slots. Other candidates include re-electionist Carol Chen, ABC School Board Member James Kang,…
ON TUESDAY, March 5, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities are urged to exercise their right to vote for the 2013 Primary Municipal Elections in the City of Los Angeles. The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) is advocating for these communities’ active participation in the municipal elections, through the Your Vote Matters!…
LONG BEACH – College students gathered from all corners of Southern California for the 6th annual SCPASA Summit conference held at California State University at Long Beach (CSULB), on Saturday. Presented by the Southern California Pilipino American Student Alliance (SCPASA) in collaboration with the Pilipino American Coalition (PAC) and One Nation at Cal State Long…
LOS ANGELES-Nearly 70 Pinoys gathered together on Feb. 25 at a church on Beverly Boulevard to commemorate the peaceful and bloodless revolution that overthrew a tyrannical and oppressive government. The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, in cooperation with the Overseas Filipinos for Good Governance (OFGG), hosted a mass in celebration of the 27th…
ANAHEIM-Filipino-American Bishop Oscar Solis believes Cardinal Roger Mahony should be able to vote for the new pope in the upcoming papal conclave despite the criticisms surrounding the embattled senior ecclesiastical official. “He’s still a cardinal and a bishop in good standing,” said Solis after presiding over the Filipino mass held during the Religious…
EVERY year, millions of Pinoys go to great and in some cases, drastic lengths to work abroad, in order to pursue better lives for themselves and their families. Many overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are often compelled to work despite unfair and harsh working conditions — enduring long hours, low pay and human rights abuses. We’ve…
IN response to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) inquiry on the $5-million reimbursement check released to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the United Nations (UN) has denied releasing such a payment. The inquiry was requested by the House of Representatives to the DFA, following the revelations made by former government auditor Heidi…
For 12-year-old Jervin Barcenas, getting on an airplane is one thing. However, being able to fly one is an entirely different story. A student of Saint Anne Catholic School in Santa Monica, CA, Jervin was always interested in aircrafts from his very first plane ride to Manila aboard the Philippine Airlines. Jervin became more interested in…
ON MONDAY, the Philippines will be commemorating the 27th anniversary of EDSA 1 — The 1986 People Power Revolution which freed us from the clutches of a tyrannical ruler. To mark the momentous occasion, President Benigno Aquino III will likely sign a landmark bill that would provide just compensation to thousands of human rights victims…
LOS ANGELES – Pro-immigration advocates are hopeful that the government will pass a comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation by August, giving relief to the more than 11 million undocumented individuals in the United States. During a New America Media national telebriefing: Tracking Immigration Reform in 2013 on Thursday, proponents of CIR believe this is the…
DON’T fight fire with fire. China, through its embassy, recently rejected the Philippine government’s “Notifcation and Statement of Claim” before the UN’s arbitration tribunal. The letter, which was handed out by Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario last month to Philippine Embassies and Consulates abroad, urges China to desist from unlawful activities that violate the…
ACCORDING to a survey conducted by Gallup, Filipinos get the most love in the world. “The world leader in love is the Philippines, where fully 93 percent of the population reported feeling love,” said University of Michigan Professor and author of the study, Justin Wolfers, in a blog post on Tuesday. Rwanda ranked second at…
IN THE wake of Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to step down, many were startled and lamented the resignation of the pontiff as the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Speaking in Latin in a meeting with Vatican cardinals, the pope revealed his decision “of great importance for the life of the church.” “In today’s…
ACCORDING to the latest ABC News/Washington Postpoll (the survey was conducted by landline and cellphone from January 30-February 3, 2013, among a random national sample of 1,038 adults), there was a boost in public approval for President Barack Obama’s handling of immigration, brought about by “majority support for a path to citizenship” for the undocumented and…
DESPITE the ongoing recovery operations on the dismantling of the US Navy minesweeper, USS Guardian (which remains aground at the Tubbataha Reef), Pinoysremain vehement weeks after the incident. The US government reiterated its commitment to pay for the damages caused by the Tubbataha Reef mishap. “In view of damages caused by the USS Guardian accident at…
