THE Senate may have passed their version of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, but most Filipinos in America cannot fully embrace victory. The reason: This legislation effectively kills the dream of many of our kababayans to re-unite with their family members (“mabuong muli ang pamilya”) and start a new and hopefully, better life here in…

81 PERCENT of the viewers, who voted in our daily poll in The Filipino Channel’s Balitang America,  said their families are not ready to accept same-sex marriage. They reiterated their belief that marriage should only be between one man and one woman. These kababayans echo the sentiment of many other religious and morally-conservative Americans, who…

AFTER reviewing the challenges (to both nationwide restrictions placed on gay couples under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and California’s Proposition 8  or same-sex marriage ban), the US Supreme Court ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional, and that same-sex marriages can now resume in California, after the SC dismissed the appeal of anti-gay marriage…

THIS week may very well be the moment that will change the way America defines marriage. The Supreme Court has been reviewing challenges to both California’s Prop 8 and the nationwide restrictions placed on gay couples under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). At the core of these two landmark gay marriage cases is…

WHEN we are saddled with seemingly insurmountable problems in our day-to-day life in America, we yearn for inspiration — one that will reassure us that all will be well. That there is light at the end of the tunnel. That we can use our challenges to become better human beings, not just for our own…

IN the past edition of this column, I shared with you some important information to help you understand teen depression and guide you in doing your best so that the heartbreaking loss of the Molina Family in New York (whose 12-year old daughter took her own life after being bullied in school and online) may,…

“I FELT sorry for myself because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”  – Jewish Proverb During these tough times, it is very easy to wallow in self-pity especially when we have lost so much because of the recession. The “good life” we see our own friends experiencing and…

WE, Fil-Am parents, uprooted ourselves and our families from the Philippines with the dream of giving our kids a better life than we had growing up back home. All we wanted was for them to be happy and successful. But as we navigate our new life in America, many of our us would every now…

DURING the course of the heated and contentious debate about immigration reform, we have heard how many of our kababayans, who are already US citizens or green card holders characterize Pinoys without legal papers in America as law breakers, leeches sucking up taxpayers’ money, lazy, selfish, pabigat sa America, etc. This stereotyping is also among…

IT WAS truly heartbreaking to hear the news about the death of a 12-year old Filipina in Queens, New York, who took her own life because she could not take the cruel messages in school and online anymore. Authorities have confirmed that Gabrielle Molina, who was found hanging in her bedroom last week in Queens…

NASALING na naman ang ating Pinoy pride! Kababayans in the Philippines and from different parts of the world have been buzzing about Dan Brown (famous author of Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons) and how he referred to Manila, our beloved city, in his latest book, Inferno. Brown described Manila as the “gates of…

THE US immigration system is broken  and is in need of a major overhaul. After one generation and since 1986, that may soon be coming,  with the approval of the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration reform bill by the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a 13-5 vote by members of the democratic-controlled panel, the bill will…

IT WAS heartbreaking to see how a community in Moore, Oklahoma was reduced to rubble after it was hit by a powerful tornado on Monday. measuring top-of-the-scale EF5, with winds of more than 200 miles per hour. The tornado killed 24 people and injured more than 120. It also caused $2 billion in damages, and…

WOULD you have both of your breasts removed if you find out you are genetically  predisposed to have breast cancer, even if you do not have signs you have cancer at the moment? That was exactly what famous actress Angelina Jolie chose to do, as she disclosed via an op-ed article in The New York…

FIL-AMS and kababayans back home may share the same love for Filipino food and follow the same teleseryes on The Filipino Channel, but when it comes to their discernment process when voting for candidates in elections –  they seem to live in different worlds. Take the recently concluded midterm elections in the Philippines as an…

THE news is out. Our virtues shine through. Filipinos are a forgiving people. Yes, we abhor erring politicians. We even oust them from office. But time heals all wounds. We forgive and forget. People from other countries have taken notice. Americans, who follow politics in the Philippines, have been saying that had the popular Noynoy…

ON MAY 4, what was supposed to be an evening of celebration for newly-wed Filipina nurse, Neriza Fojas and her eight best friends (who were also mostly nurses) turned into a horrific tragedy. Enroute to Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City for her bridal party, the stretch limousine they were riding suddenly burst into flames…

THE Boston Marathon bombings have somehow revealed a dichotomy in most Americans’ (including Fil-Ams)  state of mind: What do we really value more? Our full enjoyment of our freedom and liberties or our national security? As the Associated Press reported, Republican lawmakers question whether the Obama administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies failed to share…

AFTER Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s dramatic and controversial escape from the rule of law (only to resurface as if nothing happened), another high profile personality is now on the loose. This time, it’s Cezar Mancao — another important character in the unsolved mysterious double murder case of media consultant and publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his…

THE United Nations (UN) estimates that more than 70,000 people have died since the Syrian government started battling a rebellion two years ago. The international community has condemned the Assad regime for the violence it has perpetrated against its own people. Pleas for greater international assistance have been mounting, especially from the United States —…

DID the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) miss out on an opportunity to prevent the Boston Marathon terror attack from happening? This was the question raised by CBS, when it broke the news that the FBI was able to interview Tamerlan Tsarnaev (one of the two bombing suspects, the other is his brother, Dzhokhar A….

ON April 15, three people were killed and more than 200 were wounded, when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, allegedly perpetrated by two young immigrant brothers from Russia. The older brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died after a shootout with police early Friday. The younger brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was…

POLL after poll following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (where 20 innocent first graders and six adults were massacred by a deranged young man) showed that 90 percent of Americans agree that Congress should pass stricter gun control laws, like a universal background check, to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again. President…

WE could only pray that what happened to 15-year-old Audrie Pott would never happen to our own children. She was sexually assaulted by three fellow students at Saratoga High School — boys she had been friends with since middle school. Worse, she found out that graphic pictures of her naked and being attacked were taken…

MANY optimists believe this could be the week when Congress would finally be able to present a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Talks of a bipartisan support on creating a pathway to citizenship in this plan have made many undocumentedkababayans exhaust all possible means to benefit from the new immigration laws. While to be proactive is a…

(Part 2) IN MY last article, I discussed some of the socio-economic implications of marriage (starting off with Social Security and Taxes) and why gay couples insist that the federal government should also accord to them the same rights and privileges that heterosexual couples now enjoy. Gay couples contend that the Constitution of America guarantees…

(Part 1) MANY of our kababayans who are guided by their conservative views ask: Why do gay couples insist on their “right” to marry, when the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines “marriage” as legal a union between one man and one woman? They add that even the Bible defines marriage as such. Right now, there are…

AFTER going through the dead of winter, one can’t wait to bathe in the warmth and joy that the promise of spring brings to our life. This is also the message of Easter for us Christians: a rebirth…a new life…in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, though, we experience so many winters…

CATHOLICS all over the world celebrate Holy Week with a new pope: His Eminence, Pope Francis I. Chosen by a conclave of 115 cardinals on March 13, Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, a 76-year old Jesuit priest from Argentina, is now the leader of more than 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. He has made history…

LAST Wednesday, I wrote about the plan being discussed in the Senate to decrease the number of family visas to give priority to employment-based petitions, specifically for highly-skilled workers. Although there is no final proposal yet, the petitions that may likely be eliminated are those by US citizens on behalf of adult, married children and…