Drivers’ license for the Undocumented
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…
Category: Features
Covering the week’s most noteworthy feature stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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What’s happening to our country?
ON JULY 21, 1982, former senator and former Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez was ambushed in his car in Quezon City. He took six bullets but miraculously survived. His driver was…
Crime deterrence
THERE was never a better time to call this world a civilized society. Because of current laws existing, we are bound to live vicariously, based on respect for the sanctity…
Bakasyon sa Pilipinas 2014: NAIA Surprise!
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…
PNoy’s Marcosian predicament
IRONY of ironies. Noynoy Aquino appears to be facing the same predicament in dealing with the pork barrel and Malampaya scandals as Marcos did in the wake of the assassination…
The separation of Showbiz and State
IN the Philippines, politics and show business are no strange bedfellows. Through the years, the country has been (and still is) under the influence of different officials – be it…
Cliffhanger
WILL justice be truly be served? Only the aggrieved party can tell. When news broke out of the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam in July…
Remembering “Tatak Pilipino”
“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…
Letter from Cesar Virata
I RECEIVED a letter from former Marcos regime Prime Minister and Finance Minister Cesar E. A. Virata to correct what he thought was a mistake I had made in my…
Climate-proof
AT THE recent 3-day Asia-Europe Meeting(ASEM) conference on disaster risk and management, President Benigno S. Aquino III emphasized the need for countries to come together, to make the world climate-proof….
Remembering ‘Compañero y Compañera’
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…
Constants and variables
ACCORDING to official data released on May 29, a succession of natural disasters (The 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Bohol and Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013) has slowed down growth of the…
Why is Malacañang lukewarm to conducting lifestyle checks on public officials?
THERE are some pronouncements from the Aquino administration that are sometimes so incongruous with each other. One concrete example is in the way it is handling the multi-billion peso pork…
Time to make history in San Mateo County by electing the first Fil-Am judge, Ray Buenaventura
THIS coming June 3, 2014, the Filipinos in San Mateo County will have a chance to make history by electing one of their own as a Judge in San Mateo…
Greener pastures
Four weathermen from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) have decided to move on to greener pastures. Currently, PAGASA has 13 expert weather forecasters left. Three of…
Time is running out for our Filipino WWII vets
MEMORIAL Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer for many of us in America. It is the time of the year when families start their summer travels, backyard barbecue…
Freddie Aguilar’s 'anak' in the age of reality TV
Traditional and social media was recently inundated by news stories regarding Meagan Aguilar’s rant (the “anak” of music icon Freddie Aguilar) against her own father. Meagan has been spewing scathing…
Naturalization – Do It for Your Family
It’s hard to imagine that we as individuals can do anything about the broken immigration system that is tearing many of our families apart. But we can. There is one…
Quagmire brought about by the pork barrel scam ‘list’
THE “list” of more government officials (who are allegedly part of the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam) has created even more questions, confusion and doubt in the minds of the…
Bawal mangopya: Pinoy biz in LA raided for piracy
WHAT is it about most people (and many Filipinos), who feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in acquiring things for free, which usually need to be paid for? Is…
Of miracles and scandals
FROM May 21 to 23, Metro Manila will be host to heads of state and business and civil society leaders from over 30 countries at the World Economic Forum (WEF)…
SOS: Mother Nature in critical condition
(Part 2) RELEASED last week, The National Climate Assessment presented the most comprehensive scientific evidences of global warming. The findings were ominous, because rising temperatures are affecting the food chain,…
Motherhood
DESPITE economic improvements, the Philippines’ ranking in the 15th global “State of the World’s Mothers” report (released by Save The Children, a non-government organization) has slipped four notches — placing…
A special milestone on Mothers’ Day
MOTHERS’ DAY this year is extra special for me. It is a milestone because this 2014, I have also became a grandmother with the birth of my first apo — Azshara…
Focusing on Mother Earth this Mother’s Day
SUPER Typhoon Yolanda. Heat waves, drought and wildfires. Torrential rains and flooding. Many of us have been asking why these calamities have been happening more frequently these days. Do we…
Paraphrasing Obama
There was a collective expression of disappointment among many Filipinos and the media because Barack Obama “gave no categorical commitment” that America would “defend” the Philippines if its dispute with…