Maria Lourdes Ruiz Ballen passed on February 19, 2022. She died peacefully beside her husband Gary, free from pain, stress, anxiety, and with a smile on her face. She was born to Carlos Perey Ruiz and Epifania Nazario Ruiz on February 11, 1950. She comes from a family of ten siblings (Romy+, Quintos+, Titong+). She…
Cerritos, CA — With her vast and glowing experiences as paralegal and field deputy of Los Angeles County’s two branches of services, Lynda Johnson may yet be the first Filipina American woman to break the glass ceiling as councilwoman of the City of Cerritos. Election day is April 12, 2022. Tangible signs are pointing to…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in 2019, he promised to lower prescription drug costs for all Californians. But now, as Newsom nears the end of his first term, his ambitious ideas — such as requiring California to make its own insulin and forging drug partnerships across state lines — have failed…
PRESIDENT Joe Biden’s top Medicare official suggested Wednesday, March 2 that forthcoming rules to bolster nursing home staffing won’t be issued under a mechanism, known as interim final rules, that would allow regulations to take effect more or less immediately. “While we want to move swiftly, we want to get comments from stakeholders,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure,…
MIKE (2nd from left) missed the chance to bring his kids to the U.S. due to wrong advice from his well-meaning mother. Mike was petitioned as single by his mother, but she told him not to bring his children along, since their birth certificates had a date of marriage listed. Many erroneously assume that a…
An impressive array of huge hits and nostalgic songs make for pure fun when TFC presents the Revelation Concert Tour in the US this March REDWOOD CITY – “Many things were revealed to us during this pandemic.” Dingdong Avanzado waxes nostalgic during an interview. “The Original Prince of Pinoy Pop” shares that they will be…
DAN Duggan, the president of Duggan’s Serra Mortuary, heads the list of prominent personalities celebrating their birthdays in the month of March. Dan will celebrate his birthday on Sunday, March 27. Duggan’s Serra Mortuary is where many Filipino Americans honor and pay their last respects to their loved ones when they leave this world. It…
SIX chefs, two restaurateurs, one pastry chef, a bar that offers an outstanding bar program, and a couple of emerging chefs. That is how Filipino Americans in the food and hospitality industry fared on Wednesday, Feb. 23 as the James Beard Foundation announced its 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists in advance of the returning…
AS the pandemic continues to infect and kill people in the United States and around the world, Ukraine is ravaged not only by COVID-19 but by Russia’s Putin-22, a modern-day Hitler, a ruthless power-hungry land-grabber and murderer. The unprovoked attack has killed civilians, including children, in this Eastern European country with a population of 44.62…
WE are less than 11 weeks away from the consequential May 9, 2022 presidential elections. Campaign season is now in full gear with political rallies in different parts of the country, online discourse and the controversial debates — all intended by the electoral system to give voters the opportunity to make better informed and conscientious…
CALIFORNIA this week announced that it is dropping indoor mask mandate requirements, including for unvaccinated residents and in schools. Governor Gavin Newsom announced that on March 1, masks will no longer be required for unvaccinated individuals, but will be strongly recommended for all individuals in most indoor settings. “California continues to adjust our policies based on the latest data…
Legend spills on what keeps him going: ‘I love what I’m doing’ Legendary singer and songwriter Paul Anka is all set for his tour stop in LA this Saturday, March 5. “Wouldn’t it be great that on the anniversary of ‘My Way’ and Sinatra after his death to do some of the arrangements that he…
(Continued from last week …) An angel is an invisible presence that must be acknowledged to become ever stronger. God sends angels to keep watch over human beings and help them in every human challenge. There is, however, the element of free will in humans. You can acknowledge the presence of angels or deny it….
YES, we are all exhausted by the covid pandemic. Flummoxed by the constantly shifting science and guidelines. Worried about a succession of scary new variants, each with its own name, like hurricanes. But a sizable minority — nearly 17 million U.S. residents, including me — has its own special quandary. Our initial vaccine was Johnson…
Filipina co-founder of the new initiative hopes to reduce the number of trafficking victims, especially those of Filipino descent IN a digital world where scamming has essentially become institutionalized, the risk of falling prey to con artists, thieves, and swindlers has become unfortunately easier as the internet evolves. But the insidiousness of the deep underbelly…
AS Los Angeles County reaches the tail end of the winter coronavirus surge, county officials have eased indoor masking requirements for those who are vaccinated. Starting Friday, Feb. 25, vaccinated individuals may enter establishments, venues, and businesses across the county that require vaccination proof without a mask. “As transmission drops and there is less virus…
THE commemoration of the historic People Power Revolution of 1986 in the Philippines was eclipsed with two important news headlines that somehow shaped many aspects of social media interaction online among Filipinos wherever they may be around the world. The unprovoked invasion of Russian forces in Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, ignited fear of World…
ABOUT two months before the start of the 2019 World Cup in France where it was scheduled to defend its title as World Cup Champions, the US Women Soccer Team sued its employer, the United States Soccer Federation, Inc. (“Federation”), for equal pay. Back in 2019, this column wrote about how and why the lawsuit…
AN old Cherokee story goes like this: An old man says to his grandson, “There’s a fight going on inside of me. It’s a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil—angry, greedy, jealous, arrogant, and cowardly. The other is good—peaceful, loving, modest, generous, honest, and trustworthy. These two wolves are also fighting within you…
THE Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI), a non-profit organization in Historic Filipinotown dedicated to serving the Filipino community, will kick start a year of raising funds to support on-going programming. In its 40th anniversary, FASGI has helped millions of individuals through programs that include mental health education, naturalization application assistance, arts incubation, health and…
CALIFORNIA Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday, February 24 announced the arrests of 14 individuals who were charged in San Bernardino County Superior Court in connection with two hospice companies accused of stealing more than $4.2 million from the federal Medicare and state Medi-Cal programs. Based in San Bernardino County, New Hope Hospice, Inc. and…
IT’S gonna be another evening of fun-filled laughter, excitement and family entertainment and togetherness at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California. T.K.O. (Tawanan! Kantahan! Overload!), comes back with a bang come Saturday, March 5, 2022, to perform live at 8p.m., at the halls of Pechanga Theater with tons of jokes and antics to kick off…
By Mark Hedin/Ethnic Media Services WITH more than 65,000 people living on Los Angeles County’s streets, there’s desperation in the air. Despite all efforts to address it, the situation is worsening, and frustration mounting. “We’re failing them,” one Latino voter said, as reported recently by the No Going Back L.A. group assembled by the Committee…
