Featuring the most noteworthy people impacting, inspiring, and empowering the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
Antonio G. Santos – July 4, 1930 to May 13, 2021 ENGINEER Antonio G. Santos passed away on May 13, 2021. He was 90. Antonio was the fourth son among eight siblings from the marital union of Maria Belen Galang and Vicente T. Santos. Growing up in their ancestral house in Ipil St. in Tayabas, a…
WITH the current rise in anti-Asian hate and discrimination across the country, Asian Americans have been opening up about their family histories and personal experiences with racial bias. Though there’s national attention on the community’s current plight, Asian Americans note that this moment isn’t new — but the pandemic has brought the issues back to…
FOUR Filipino cadets have graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), bringing them closer to becoming commissioned officers of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). First-class Filipino cadets Genison Basilio, Eric Joseph Noble, Daisy Anne Atayan, and Dianne Shaira Basuel were among the 240 cadets to graduate from the USCGA Class of 2021 on…
GEICO has opened a new local office at 3522 W Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank, California. Melody Avecilla will lead a team of licensed agents at the new location. Avecilla has significant experience in the insurance industry. Before opening this GEICO local office, Avecilla gained years of extensive insurance experience while working in auto claims and…
Stacie Gancayco-Adlao, a Filipina American filmmaker and actor, just scored the biggest win of her career so far. Her coming-of-age drama feature, ‘Clementine,’ won the Final Draft Big Break Grand Prize Feature. It is also an Athena Film Festival Screenwriting Lab Finalist, and Austin Film Festival Second Rounder. Final Draft received over 10,000 submissions from…
MALIA Vella, the current vice mayor of Alameda, California, is vying to be the first Filipina American elected to the state Legislature. A workers’ rights attorney and adjunct professor of practice at Mills College, Vella is now running in the special election for the 18th Assembly District seat, which became vacant after Rob Bonta assumed…
From stay-at-home mom to Yamashiro’s first female executive chef UP until four years ago, Vallerie Castillo Archer was a stay-at-home mom of three, but had a burning desire to do something food-related. Following her formal culinary education, Archer landed her first job in 2019 in the industry at Yamashiro, the historic Hollywood Hills landmark that…
A 16-year-old Filipina is among the 11 winners of The Learning Network’s second annual STEM Writing Contest organized by the New York Times. Natalia Araña, a Grade 11 student from the Philippine Science High School in Quezon City, won with her essay titled “Mycowood Violins: A Different Kind of Time Machine,” which focuses on scientist…
BERKELEY – In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and in keeping with this year’s theme of “Advancing Leaders through Purpose-Driven Service,” the USS Telesforo Trinidad Campaign (USSTTC) honors thousands of Filipinos and Americans of Filipino descent who have served faithfully in the U.S. Armed Forces since 1901, when President McKinley signed…
TO honor the over 4 million registered nurses and their tireless fight against COVID-19 in the United States, the American Nurses Association (ANA) extended for the entire month of May the celebration of National Nurses Week, which takes place from May 6 to 12. “Since the pandemic, honoring our nation’s nurses is more profoundly significant,…
FOR over a year now, the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging the way everyone celebrates events and holidays. The situation is turning a corner with the vaccination campaigns kicked off by various countries, including the United States. This Sunday, May 9, Mother’s Day 2021 will be a different celebration for many compared to last year’s sheltering…
SEVERAL Filipinos and Filipino Americans in entertainment, sports and business have been named to Gold House’s annual A100 list highlighting the most impactful Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) across industries. Gold House, a nonprofit collective of API founders, creatives and leaders, announced its yearly list on Monday, May 3 on the heels of Asian American…
RAPPLER co-founder and chief executive officer Maria Ressa is set to be awarded the prestigious press freedom prize from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ressa has been named as the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, following the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals, the…
The veteran diplomat will helm the Consul General role that presides over 1.2 million Filipinos EDGAR Badajos, the new Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, recently met with Filipino American media representatives to discuss a wide range of topics, including his plans to lead and streamline consular services for the region that…
Fil-Am public servant previously served as deputy mayor for budget and innovation THE Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday, April 21 confirmed a Filipino American public servant to lead the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting. Miguel Sangalang is the new director of the bureau that oversees the maintenance and improvement of LA’s 220,000 street lighting…
THE board of directors of the Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture, also known as “FilAm Arts,” has named Giselle Töngi-Walters as the organization’s Executive Director — only its third-ever in its near quarter of a century history. FilAm Arts is a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles with a mission…
FOUR University of the Philippines alumni were honored at a recent virtual ceremony hosted by the UP Alumni Association of Greater Los Angeles (UPAAGLA). Mario C. Ignacio, retired chief accounting employee of the L.A. Department of Water & Power; Marlon Saria, nurse specialist & nurse scientist; Elsa Matteo Gillham, past Rotary Club District Governor; and…
THE Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles welcomed a new head of post this week. Seasoned diplomat Edgar Barrairo Badajos will assume the Consul General role, presiding over Southern California, Southern Nevada and Arizona, where 1.2 million Filipinos live. “Los Angeles as a Foreign Service Post holds so much promise and potential for improving consular…
FILIPINO American coach Mike Magpayo is the recipient of the annual Joe B. Hall award given to the top first-year head coach in college basketball. Magpayo on Thursday, April 1, received the award from CollegeInsider.com after leading the University of California (UC) Riverside Highlanders to a historic campaign in the Big West Conference. “Dealing with…
Parishioners of Incarnation Catholic Church in Glendale, California observed a Eucharistic celebration of 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines last Sunday, March 21. The event started with praying the rosary. The image of Our Lady of Solitude of Porta Vaga, Patroness of Cavite, was placed at the altar while rosary was said. Immediately after…
MEET the new Filipino American chef creating waves in the culinary industry. His name is Denevin Miranda and his latest claim to fame? He was recently declared as the champion of the Food Network show “Chopped” with its new season focused on “Meat Fight,” a glorious, carnivorous throwdown for gastronomy lovers. The new episodes focus…
IN February 2020, Los Angeles-based social worker Maxie Villavicencio Pulliam took a trip to the Philippines to help with relief operations following the Taal Volcano eruption. While in Taal, Batangas, where her mother’s side of the family hails from, Villavicencio Pulliam noticed a main road and a monument dedicated to her great-great-grandmother: Gliceria Marella de…
FOR Staff Sergeant Maria Monica Suarez, joining the U.S. Army was a shot at opportunities not just for herself, but her family. “I wanted to have a steady, brighter future, career-wise,” Suarez said. “I joined the Army basically for my family.” The 28-year-old Filipina, who was born in Angeles City in the province of Pampanga,…
Emily Higby, co-founder of the Asian Community Resource Center (ACRC), passed away on Monday, March 22. She spent her life in service to others, always giving her time and money when it came to meaningful causes. Her family, friends, and colleagues knew her as a kind soul who was both selfless and passionate. Emily’s commitment…
LEYNA Bloom, a Black and Filipina American model, is making history as the first transgender woman of color to grace Sports Illustrated’s famed Swimsuit Issue. The 27-year-old model and trained dancer’s feat comes after Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, who became the first openly transgender model to appear in the magazine’s Swimsuit Issue last year. In…
SISTER Fidelis Atienza, the Filipina nun behind Baguio City’s famous Good Shepherd ube jam, has passed away at the age of 102. In a Facebook post, the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) confirmed that Atienza died on Saturday, March 20, at the Good Shepherd Community in Quezon City “after 66 years in religious life.”…
Originally reported by Jiang Qing in U.S. Headline News – “Lifting the Pestle onto the Platform,” a test for verifying Buddhist practitioners’ realization power, has overturned a thousand-year-old belief that those who had left footprints in rocks were Holy Gurus. The fact is no one ever witnessed in person the foot impressions actually being made…
MANUEL PINEDA MACAPINLAC, M.D., Ph.D. at 90 years old joined his Creator at 6:06 a.m. on March 6, 2021. Dr. Macapinlac was born on January 2, 1931 in Minalin, Pampanga. He earned his medical degree at the University of the Philippines in 1955. He went on to study biochemistry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee,…
SINCE she was a child, Amelia Agbigay Baclig dreamt of becoming a nurse. Baclig, 63, fulfilled that dream and worked for almost three decades at West Covina’s Queen of the Valley Hospital, where she was fondly known as “Mama Amy.” “It was pretty much the profession that was made for her,” her daughter Aubrey Joy…
by Gloria T. Caoile To celebrate Women’s History Month, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations—Nevada (NaFFAA-NV) has honored 16 outstanding women for achievements in five fields. The honorees were selected by the awards committee, and then recognized during a Zoom event on Monday, March 8. Friends, family, and other members of the community joined…
