Engaging in a conversation about the current fight against racism, discrimination, and police brutality is most likely a difficult conversation among Filipino families. There is a reticence among Filipino Americans who were born and educated in the Islands, to participate in militant political activities such as protests here in the United States although they might…
FILIPINOS all over the world can’t help but compare and contrast U.S. President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. For many of us Filipinos in America, their similarities in terms of their leadership style, the image they want to project, the rhetoric, their relationship with the international community, the laws championed, facts and the…
COVID-19 has made us realize how far away we are from the Motherland despite the conveniences of modern technology and apps like cellphones, Facetime, Viber, Zoom, Facebook, etc. While these help us keep in touch with our families back home, we have come to terms with the sad fact that without freedom of navigation, these…
By Nelson Garcia Having been born in Mandaluyong, and knowing the history of American influence in my country of birth, I have always felt an affinity and a deep appreciation to the United States for the opportunities given to me and my family. The success we had during the presidency of Ronald Reagan helped make…
RES IPSA LOQUITUR. The thing speaks for itself. I remember learning a lot about legal terms in Latin on the legal talk, public service and drama radio program on DZMM with the late Philippine Senator Rene Cayetano, the good father of House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano. The “Compañero ng Bayan”, as I fondly called him,…
A GLIMMER of hope in the United States’ fight against the pandemic: Recent polls suggest that a majority of Americans do not trust the words coming out of President Donald Trump’s mouth, and they turn to the nation’s top epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci in handling the COVID-19 outbreak. The ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals that…
By: U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim THE waters of the South China Sea are home to a dizzying array of marine resources, ranging from vast oil and gas reserves deep beneath the surface to the complex and beautiful ecosystems capable of supporting international seafood markets and unraveling scientific mysteries. This is the patrimony…
SAN Francisco, California is said to be a bastion of liberal and progressive folks. The city has a black mayor, London Breed, who replaced a Chinese-American mayor, the late Ed Lee. Governor Gavin Newson, who was first to recognize same sex marriage, was mayor before Ed Lee and after Willie Brown, who is black. And…
CONGRESS has ruled to deny a new franchise to ABS-CBN, the nation’s biggest broadcasting company that has been serving the Filipino people for more than 65 years. The company has spearheaded the growth of the industry from analog to digital in providing news, information, entertainment and public services to Filipinos wherever they may be —…
MY last piece on reaching back to one’s roots while growing new fruits as a young Filipino in America seems to have started a discussion on values. In this regard, throughout my life, I have picked up gems of wisdom from poets and learned men. I call them verses and values for life. As a small…
By Cathy Miraballes-Arceo When a white police officer killed George Floyd by placing a knee on his neck for almost nine minutes, despite his cries of “I can’t breathe,” our community was forced to confront the issues of police brutality and racism. I had only heard about these problems in the news but never in…
HAPPY 4TH of July! Today, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, which we now call our home in our adoptive country. As History.com chronicled: “The Fourth of July—also known as Independence Day or July 4th—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence…
IF you and your family have been depending on Sky Direct, TV Plus for news and entertainment, especially after the Duterte Administration’s National Telecommunications Commission ordered the shutdown of the Philippines’ biggest broadcasting network ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries on May 5 amid the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, then effective June 30, you will…
I HAD an interesting exchange on social media with a good friend, over the issues of “colonial mentality” and “assimilation.” My friend stated, with a hint of sarcasm, “Forgive me If I seem to relate more to the American culture and way of life unlike some of my close friends that came to America when…
“FAMILY.” If you ask our kababayans what drives them to uproot themselves from the Philippines and endure the loneliness, homesickness, and the security and happiness of being in your homeland, one answer stands out: To give my family a better life and opportunities they cannot give them staying in the Philippines. Most of us take this route,…
MY dear departed friend Alex Esclamado, publisher and editor of Philippine News, had a practical advice for members of his editorial and reportorial staff: “If you are not 100% sure of your facts, use the modifier ‘alleged.’ It allows you a way out of a libel case.” However, he would add that there was no substitute…
I came to the United States in the late 1960s to pursue graduate studies at UCLA. Like almost everyone who was college-educated in the Philippines, and immigrated after the passage of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, we were beneficiaries of the removal of race-based immigration policies from the lawbooks. Many of us and…
BEFORE Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016, the nations and people of the free world looked up to America to lead the global community in matters of shared concerns like peace, human rights, hunger, the threat of nuclear arms, climate change, protection of the environment and pandemics. That was then….
LISTEN! The coronavirus is NOT done with the United States, no matter how much President Donald Trump would want you to believe in March that it would disappear by the spring. It will officially be summer this June 21 and COVID-19 remains to be a threat to people all over the world. Many states have…
By Raymond Partolan Oftentimes, when people come across the phrase, “undocumented immigrant,” images of men, women, and children of Latin American heritage coming across the southern border of the United States come to mind. However, often overlooked are the hundreds of thousands of Asian immigrants who are currently living in the United States without lawful…
We first met the late visionary industrialist Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco some 50 years ago in 1969, when we were both elected to the House of Representatives. We served until 1972 as our term was abruptly terminated when martial law was declared. Some of our colleagues in the pre-martial law House were Cornelio Villareal of Capiz,…
ON June 12, 1998, Filipinos the world over commemorated the first centennial of Philippine independence, based on the establishment of the Philippine Republic by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898 from the balcony of his home in Kawit, Cavite. To generate proper observance in America of the centennial, I accepted a pro bono appointment…
THE name of veteran journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa evokes both pride and fury among Filipinos in the world, depending on which lens they are wearing as they look at what’s happening in the Philippines, especially during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. Maria Ressa is a multi-awarded Filipino American journalist and author who co-founded…
“THIS country was founded on protest — it is called the American Revolution,” former President Barack Obama said during an online roundtable event with his former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and activists from Minneapolis, voicing his support for George Floyd peaceful protesters and calling for police reform. “Every step of progress in this…
PRO-LIFE. Anti-abortion. Anti-illegal immigration. Rule of law. Conservatism. Christian faith and values. Lower taxes. Fiscal responsibility. These are the core issues close to our hearts as Filipinos in America, making many kababayans lean Republican instead of the pro-choice, more inclusive, more tolerant and progressive Democratic Party. In the many presidential debates I moderated for The Filipino…
“BLACKOUT TUESDAY” was an initiative to post a black picture on social media, reflect on recent events, and stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by sharing information about the cause. Last Tuesday, June 2, my children posted a black picture on social media and posted unequivocal demand for the demand for equity…
“In the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?” – Martin Luther King, Jr. All over social media, especially Facebook, folks are posting media stories and pictures of protests, vandalism, looting, and police violence in response. Looking through these postings and the…
This is the Tagalog version of the open letter created by Letters for Black Lives, an ongoing project for people to create and translate resources on anti-Blackness for their communities in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter. The letter was written and translated collaboratively by hundreds of people who want to have honest and respectful conversations with their…
MGA KABABAYAN, we have seen the gruesome video and pictures recounting how Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on African American George Floyd’s neck last week while Floyd pleaded with him, saying he couldn’t breathe. Multiple videos reveal the white police officer knelt on the 42-year-old black man for eight minutes and 46 seconds in…
by Anna Almendrala “You are the most selfish f—ing people on the planet.” I jerked my head to the left, where I saw a neighbor glaring at us from his driveway while unloading groceries from his trunk. “Where’s your f—ing mask?” he said. “Unbelievable.” My jaw dropped. I had just walked three blocks home with…
