Covering the week’s most noteworthy news stories impacting the lives of the Filipino-American community in New York and New Jersey.
NEW YORK — Over 2,000 Filipino and Filipino-Americans from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut went to the Barclays Center to cheer for the Brooklyn Nets as it took on Miami Heat on Sunday, December 1 in a game billed as 4th Annual Filipino Heritage Night. A pre-game cultural performance of the Philippine traditional…
ONE of the newcomers at the Filipino Restaurant Week this year is Asin, a restaurant in Caldwell, New Jersey, a borough in Essex County, located about 20 miles away from New York City. It is a relatively small town of 1.2-square-mile with 8,000 or so residents. Asin is located along Bloomfield Avenue, the main shopping…
by Marissa Guiang NEW YORK CITY is no stranger to Filipino cuisine, thanks to a strong presence of Filipino communities in Queens and Jersey City. Small family-run restaurants serving up traditional dishes, bakeries with ube-filled pastries, and the existence of a Jollibee are not out of the norm in these areas. However, this hasn’t been…
POPE FRANCIS NAMES ARCHBISHOP AUZA AS APOSTOLIC NUNCIO TO SPAIN Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza has nothing but good thoughts and warm wishes about the Filipino American community in New York and the tri-state area which welcomed him warmly with wide open arms when he took his post in 2014 as the Apostolic Nuncio or the…
A Maryland truck driver who drove across a median on a Delaware highway and caused a crash that killed a Filipino American man and his four daughters and injured his wife was sentenced on Friday, Nov. 1 to one year of probation. If Alvin Hubbard III, the truck driver, does not satisfy the terms of…
Providing educational resource for the community remains a top priority IT all started a decade or so ago with ideas and a few questions about how young Filipino American children should grow up knowing about their history and heritage and the need for a place to do just that. That idea became The Filipino School…
First Filipino Musical Off-Broadway Opens Ma-Yi’s 30th Anniversary Season IN response to popular demand and critical acclaim, Ma-Yi Theater Company is pleased to extend the world premiere of Felix Starro, a new musical by Jessica Hagedorn and Fabian Obispo, to September 21. Based on a powerful short story by acclaimed writer Lysley Tenorio, Felix Starro, which opened on September 3, marks the first-time-ever a musical…
THE 7th Annual Filipino American Festival will take centerstage once more on Sunday, September 1, 2019 from 1:00PM to 9:00PM at the Overpeck Bergen County Park (199 Challenger Road, Ridgefield, NJ 07660). Ludi Hughes, the founder and chairwoman of FAFI is happy to announce that the 7th year is one of a kind. “Our headliners…
Finally, for the first-time ever, a musical created and directed by Filipino Americans will be presented off-Broadway. Ma-Yi Theater Company is pleased to open its 30th anniversary season with the world premiere of Felix Starro, a new musical by Jessica Hagedorn and Fabian Obispo. Felix Starro, based on a powerful short story by acclaimed Filipino American writer Lysley Tenorio, stars The…
“WE are world-class and we belong to the world,” said Consul General Claro Cristobal when we spoke with him after he and the economic team from the Philippine Consulate General New York visited around six booths at the NY NOW, the largest US gift and home decor trade show. “What can be the most important…
Malacañang on Saturday, August 3, slammed the New York Times (NYT) for spreading “false information” about the Duterte administration. In the NYT’s editorial entitled “In the fight to save the planet, its defenders are being killed,” the publication cited a survey by rights group Global Witness that named the Philippines as the most dangerous country…
The 18th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) ran from June 28 to July 14, and film buffs in New York had an opportunity to watch some of the most exciting action, comedy, drama, thriller, romance, horror, and art-house films from East Asia. This year’s batch included a couple of films from…
After a long and arduous journey, Tsismis NYC finally opened its doors last month to hordes of hungry diners. We went on their third week and noticed that the hostess turned away at least five parties wanting to eat because the restaurant was running full house that evening. “We’re all about promoting food and culture…
Filipina Maria Luisa Estrella Jaidi is facing a maximum of 10 years in prison after she arrested in the United States for visa fraud and illegally recruiting workers. Jaidi, who is married to a Moroccan ambassador, is originally from the Philippines but with residence in New York. She was arrested upon the filing of charges…
New York – Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) President Jose C. Clemente III paid a courtesy call on Consul General Claro S. Cristobal on June 6 at the Philippine Center. Consul General Cristobal and Mr. Clemente discussed the recently signed Republic Act No. 11262 (amending Republic Act No. 9593), which extends the authority of the…
A FILIPINA was involved in a minor car accident when her vehicle made contact with comedian Tracy Morgan’s newly purchased $2 million Bugatti Veyron on Tuesday, June 4 in New York City. The accident was reported to have happened just minutes after Morgan purchased his exotic supercar at the Manhattan Motorcars dealership half a mile…
“DON’T go in with a pre-conceived idea of what you think you are going to do.” That was Anne del Castillo’s quick response when I asked about her advice for young people of color who want to be in her shoes someday. Del Castillo is the new Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office…
The Columbia Journalism School in New York City awarded Rappler Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Editor Maria Ressa with the 2019 Columbia Journalism Award on Thursday, May 23 for her “singular journalistic performance in the public interest.” Ressa along with Rappler and its reporters received a total of 11 cases filed by the administration…
‘I AM JAN ALEXANDER’ Alex and Ethel Quintos of Bloomfield, New Jersey are both proud and excited that their youngest son, 6-year-old Jan has published a book. A book launch and an autograph signing session happened at Barnes & Noble in Clifton last April 28 for the book “I Am Jan Alexander,” written and illustrated…
Off-Broadway show “Miracle in Rwanda” marks 25 years since the end of the Rwandan Genocide; Play written and co-created by Leslie Lewis, daughter of Fil-Am businesswoman and philanthropist Loida Nicolas Lewis On Sunday, March 17, 2019, the story of a remarkable woman took center stage during the Women Of the World (WOW) Festival, a laser-focused…
THIS year’s distinguished Filipino women in their own very unique ways embody courage, daring and audacity,” said Consul General Claro S. Cristobal as he introduced this year’s honorees. FOR the past few years, the Philippine Consulate General in New York has honored Filipina achievers and role models in northeast USA in celebration of Women’s Month…
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Dr. Lisa Grace S. Bersales apprised the Filipino-American community in the US northeast about the recent updates on civil registration in the Philippines and the national ID system during a Forum on Civil Registration organized by the Philippine Consulate General in New York on 8 March 2019. Dr. Bersales…
Sixteen Filipino-American members of the academe from various disciplines in 13 universities in the US Northeast gathered at the Academic Networking brunch hosted by Consul General Claro S. Cristobal at his residence on Saturday, 2 March 2019. In his welcome remarks, the Consul General thanked the members of the academe and shared with them the…
The Philippine Consulate General in New York, in partnership with the Philippine Community of Southern New Jersey (PCSNJ), held its first Consular Outreach for the year on 04 March 2019 in Stratford, New Jersey. A total of more than 130 consular services were entertained. Deputy Consul General Kerwin Orville C. Tate led the nine-person team….
Filipino Women Leaders of the Filipina Women’s Network “disrupted” the Philippine Consulate General on 04 March 2019, with the book, “Disrupt 3.0. Filipina Women: Rising,” the third in an anthology series of leadership stories from preeminent Filipino women making a distinctive mark on their chosen careers. “If you want to lead, you must disrupt. And…
“MY first name is Greek, my last name is Spanish but I am a proud Pinay,” declared Hydra Mendoza, Deputy Chancellor for Community Empowerment, Partnerships, and Communications at the Department of Education in New York City. The event was the Filipina Women’s Network’s Disrupt 3.0 book launch at the Philippine Center and it was in…
Consul General Claro S. Cristobal welcomed the leaders of the Filipino-American community representing Filipino-American organizations in the US northeast at the 5th General Assembly held at the Philippine Center New York’s Kalayaan Hall on 9 February 2019. Fil-Am leaders from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York participated in the annual event…
Consul General Claro S. Cristobal met with Filipino lawyers taking up post-graduate studies at select universities in the US northeast on 25 January at the Philippine Center. The students are currently enrolled at Columbia University, New York University, Fordham University, Yale University, and Harvard University. One student from the University of Michigan also attended the…
Cebu-based artist Gil Francis Maningo and New York-based Alfonso Ompod, Jr. made a promise when they were students in the UP College of Fine Arts that they will hold a joint exhibit of their art works. Forty years later, their promise was fulfilled when their Fishers of Men exhibit at the Philippine Center opened on…
CHRISTMAS celebration the Filipino way is in full swing in New York as the lobby and glass windows of the Philippine Center along the bustling Fifth Avenue in mid-town Manhattan showcase a colorful collection of traditional parols (Christmas lanterns) and nativity scene. Thousands of New Yorkers and tourists pass by the Philippine Center everyday and…
