LAST week, I shared with you the “Health Care For All” bill” that is expected to be re-introduced by State Sen. Ricardo Lara in November, and like the previous bill, it is expected to be co-sponsored by Filipino American Assemblyman Rob Bonta. Explaining the bill to the public, Sen Lara said: “It’s going to save…

EVEN as America is still hurting from almost decade-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are again faced with another threat that has been calling for more aggressive military action from the US government — the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Why is there a sense of urgency in destroying this group now?…

PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act aims to give health care coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, but community advocates say many are still left out, especially because of their immigration status. This is especially true for California, home to the most number of Filipinos living in America. This is what one California lawmaker is…

ELEVEN million undocumented immigrants, including many Filipinos, feel disheartened when the Obama Administration announced that the president would postpone using his executive power to stop deportation until after the 2014 midterm elections. The President explained that he did not want an issue as important and as consequential as immigration reform to be used by politicians…

“I DON’T mind them. What’s important to me is my relationship with my family and the Lord,” Manny Pacquiao told Balitang America Las Vegas Correspondent Bev Llorente, when asked about his reaction to issues raised against him by his critics. One issue is not having enough time for boxing since joining the Philippine Basketball Association…

WE Filipinos are known to be frugal — many of us will do what it takes to save money in our purchases. Unfortunately, one of the ways many of our kababayans choose to save a few bucks is by buying pirated and counterfeited materials, and they even take pride in the savings they make. While…

ELECTED Congressman of Saranggani. Boxer in training for his next fight. PBA Coach. Entertainer. Husband and father. And now—Manny Pacquiao will be training professional boxers in China. Yes. The same country that the Philippines has a territorial dispute with in the West Philippine Sea, and has been deemed to be “bullying” the Philippines and other…

If you are active on social media or watch the news regularly, you must have already seen a lot of videos of people — ordinary folks and celebrities alike — taking on the ice bucket challenge. Former President George W. Bush did it, Kapamilya stars Anne Curtis, Newscaster Korina Sanchez, and many others have allowed…

Federal laws say undocumented kids cannot be denied enrollment in public schools, and that they have the right to taxpayer-funded education in the United States just like US citizens and those who live and work in the country legally. With the influx of thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America, who entered the borders illegally,…

It is back to school for many students in America, including the young undocumented kids, who according to federal laws, do have the same right to enroll in US public schools as US citizens and those with legal status to live and work in America. The deepest recession that has recently swept the nation has…

MANY of our kababayans have loved Robin Williams for his genius as an actor, but there are more who just found out that this great legend was married for 19 years to a woman of Filipino descent,  Marcia Garces. In a report by Balitang America Correspondent Rommel Conclara, I found out that Williams invented the…

PEOPLE from different parts of the world mourn the passing of the genius that was Robin Williams, who was found dead, reportedly because of suicide, in his own home in Tiburon Island, San Francisco last August 11. With a remarkable career in the entertainment industry that had spanned four decades, people could hardly make sense…

After being under the Marcos Dictatorship for 20 years, many kababayans have developed some sort of paranoia that whoever was the incumbent president would be doing what Marcos did — manipulate the system in order to go beyond the constitutionally mandated tenure for President and hold on to power for as long as possible. This…

BALITANG America cited reports that President Barack Obama could issue an executive order on immigration by early September, which would impact the lives of qualified undocumented immigrants, including many Filipinos. White House Spokesman Josh Earnest reportedly hinted on this last Monday, stating that this executive action could include allowing these undocumented immigrants to legally work…

YEARS back, I wrote about the legal victory and vindication of Filipina nurses who were wrongfully terminated by their employer hospital for allegedly speaking in Tagalog while on duty in the hospital. The decision favoring the nurses was grounded on the fact that these nurses spoke in Filipino during break time, and not when they…

ON Sunday, July 27, I lost my hero — my father, my pillar of strength. I am grateful for the opportunity to have visited the Philippines last June — that turned out to be the last time I would see, kiss and hug my Daddy alive. He died peacefully at 4 pm, after I said…

BEFORE his State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 28, President Benigno Aquino III faces the most challenging time of his Presidency. The first two cases wanted to oust him from office for allegedly betraying the public trust and violating the 1987 Constitution over his administration’s implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). The…

WHEN I emceed the Peoples’ Ball, celebrating Philippine Independence with more than 1000 kababayans in Washington DC last June, I had the privilege of being serenaded by amazaing vocal talents singing classic arias and love songs. They were among the performers of Noli Me Tangere the Opera. It premiered in New York City and is…

THE song of Tony Orlando and the Dawns once again kept playing in my mind upon reading about President Benigno Aquino III’s call for Filipinos to wear yellow ribbon to show their support for his administration’s protest against the Supreme Courts’ decision, ruling that PNoy’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) is unconstitutional. As quoted by ABS-CBN…

IT may be perhaps the biggest challenge of his presidency.  Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III faces impeachment cases to oust him from office, following the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) that the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) is unconstitutional. In a televised speech, PNoy responded to the highest court’s ruling, and tried to explain to the…

AFTER kababayans found out via social media about how a Catholic priest from Cebu insulted and humiliated a 17-year old mother during the solemn sacrament of baptism of her baby, many ask: what right has this priest to do that, especially in front of the public to witness? Speaking in the vernacular Cebuano, the priest…

IF YOU are active in social media, you may have already seen the video or read about the shocking incident involving a Catholic priest from Cebu, who humiliated a 17-year old mother during the solemn sacrament of baptism of her baby in front of the public to witness. Fortunately, the baby’s Lola was able to…

RESPONDING to the clamor for Malacanang to explain why Nora Aunor was not given the honor of being recognized as Philippine national Artist, President Noynoy Aquino explained and let me quote him in full: “Iyong first of all, for the record, iyong tatay ko isa sa mga fans ni Nora Aunor at pati ako humahanga…

I am neither a Noranian nor a Vilmanian, but I have high respect and admiration for these two veteran Filipino actresses. As a growing kid in the 70s, I have followed how these two artists evolved, from being sing-and-dance pa-“cute” entertainers  packaged with their love teams, to becoming the serious and moving thespians that they…

THE crusader for “Daang Matuwid” — President Benigno Aquino III —  says he does not mind giving humanitarian considerations to one of the most high profile senators charged in connection to the pork barrel scandal — 90-year-old Senator and former Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile. PNoy says the Sandiganbayan would consider Enrile’s old age and frail…

SOCIAL media platforms have been burning with commentaries reflecting ordinary people’s sentiments from disbelief to disgust, about the stagecraft showcasing the surrender and detention of the most prominent public servants accused of and indicted for graft and plunder in the P10-billion pork barrel scam in the Philippines. Last Friday, June 20, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla…

WHILE the passing of the comprehensive immigration bill gets stalled in Congress, undocumented immigrants in California may soon be able to get drivers’ licenses. As Balitang America’s LA Correspondent Steve Angeles reported, this may happen in less than six months, thanks to AB60 — a bill that was signed into law by Governor Gerry Brown…

MY family had the privilege of spending a two-week vacation in the Philippines this early June, a travel I am thinking many kababayans would want to take at least every year. It had been three years since our last visit — a joyous celebration of my parents 50th golden wedding anniversary. I wrote about my…

“TATAK PILIPINO” was a 60-minute weekly television magazine program that showcased Philippine arts and culture,  produced by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation from 1990 to 1994. It was hosted by APO Hiking Society’s Jim Paredes and ABS-CBN News Anchorwoman Gel Santos Relos, with Laurenti Dyogi as Executive Producer and Leo Katigbak as Director. At the time when variety…

I HAD the privilege of writing about one of the programs I was very much a part of both behind the scenes and on camera (or in front of the microphone on radio) — “Compañero y Compañera” — for the Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia. Let me share with you this piece, in honor…