THE Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles resumed consular services this week with new health and safety guidelines. The consulate is only enforcing appointment or mail-based services for the time being and will reduce its hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The public is required to wear a mask when entering the building. The…
LOS Angeles’ Grand Park is kicking off its summer programming virtually with Sunday Sessions: Home Edition for the next three months. Beginning June 14, the annual dance and music party will be online featuring the city’s finest House music curators who will host multiple-hour sets. This Sunday from 2 to 8 p.m. will be themed…
FRIDAY, June 12 marks the 122nd Anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence. Instead of the annual in-person commemorations, from parades to galas in Filipino American communities across the United States, celebrations of “Araw ng Kalayaan” are going virtual this year due to the pandemic. This year’s Independence Day celebration, bearing the theme “Kalayaan 2020:…
As protests continue to draw large crowds of individuals across Los Angeles County, officials are urging participants to get tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. “We’re still in the midst of a pandemic,” county public health director Barbara Ferrer said on Monday, June 8. “COVID-19 remains easy to transmit… Every single…
UNDOCUMENTED Filipino immigrants in California are encouraged to apply for the state’s disaster relief fund that grants up to $1,000 per household. Governor Gavin Newsom in April announced the Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program, a one-time fund of undocumented adults impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic who are not eligible for other forms of…
Over 123,000 Californians have enrolled for health care coverage through Covered California since the COVID-19 pandemic crisis began in March. Erik Wolford enrolled in early-April, and he got covered just in time. Wolford, 49, is a cinematographer in Hollywood, enrolled right after coming back from filming a documentary in Africa. A few days after his…
ON Monday, June 1 at 12 p.m., Pechanga Resort Casino, located just outside of Temecula, CA, reopened to the public. The West Coast’s largest casino/resort closed March 16 after a decision by Pechanga Tribal leaders was made to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Pechanga Resort Casino opened with limited operations as the facility opens…
The megahit Filipino action-drama TV series, “FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano,” and a host of beloved television characters and programs from the media company ABS-CBN Corporation are finally returning to TFC this June. Some of ABS-CBN’s most-watched Filipino teleseryes are making their much-awaited return to TFC. Subscribers can now watch again TV icon Cardo Dalisay’s adventures in…
by Joseph Peralta and Ritchel Mendiola SENATE President Vicente Sotto III and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday, June 3 both welcomed the move of Malacañang to suspend the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the United States and the Philippines. The two senators reiterated that the petition filed by senators in…
California now has 117,687 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4,361 deaths, according to the state Department of Public Health. As of June 2, local health departments have reported 10,293 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 63 deaths statewide. As testing capacity continues to increase across the state, the California Department of Public Health…
Los Angeles County will be under a countywide curfew that runs from 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 through 5 a.m. on Thursday, June 4. This is the fourth night of a countywide curfew ordered to protect public safety. Tonight’s curfew will start later than the curfew in previous nights as the County assesses public safety…
U.S.-based travelers who were slated to join this year’s Very Important Pinoy Tour to various Philippine destinations may receive a refund, the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles announced on Monday, June 1. The annual tour — formerly called the Ambassador’s Tour — brings Filipinos from across the U.S. back to the Philippines, and was set…
NATIONAL carrier Philippine Airlines is finalizing plans for June flights, after President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Metro Manila will be transitioning to a more relaxed general community quarantine starting on June 1. “Philippine Airlines welcomes the opportunity to resume regular commercial operations following the Philippine government decision to upgrade certain areas of the country, including…
THREE Filipino American attorneys are eyeing judicial posts in Clark County as Nevada holds its primary election on Tuesday, June 9. Caesar Almase, Maricar “Rica” Andrade and Gemma Nazareno-Edquilang are on the primary ballot, which registered voters in the state received by mail to limit the spread of the coronavirus. A former Clark County deputy…
Malacañang said this week that the deployment ban on healthcare workers abroad may be lifted once the threat of the coronavirus ends in countries where they would be employed. “Kapag humupa na siguro ‘yung banta ng Covid-19 sa mga lugar na nais nilang puntahan (Once the threat posed by COVID-19 is addressed in countries where…
Graduation season is upon us but it’s not what students had anticipated. For graduates of the Class of 2020, this step in their academic journey is unprecedented as the pandemic forced them to shift their last semester online and leave campus abruptly without proper closure and spending the final weeks counting down with their peers….
The Philippines has become the world’s largest known source of online child sexual exploitation, according to a new report released this week. The study from the International Justice Mission on Thursday, May 21 found that underage abuses are worsening with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the victims have been forced to go on lockdown with…
