LA County plugs in health care gaps as COVID-19 surges
By Mark Hedin, Ethnic Media Services With the COVID pandemic setting new records almost daily for the number of people dying or hospitalized, Los Angeles County officials met with ethnic…
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[OPINION] Fil-Am elected officials to Gov. Newsom: Appoint Assemblymember Rob Bonta as California Attorney General
[Editor’s note: On December 18, 2020, several current and former Filipino American elected officials sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom endorsing Assemblymember Rob Bonta as the state’s attorney…
How Max and Lucy’s revived a family ensaymada recipe
Part I of a series on love-leavened Fil-Am small businesses Minyong Ordoñez, a Filipino anthropologist, wrote that the Filipino culture defines Filipino identity as [something] that “manifests goodness and virtues,…
DFA sees spike in COVID-19 infections among Filipinos around the globe
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is observing another spike in COVID-19 infections among overseas Filipinos as 198 more individuals have contracted the virus. The new infections reported on…
Supreme Court rejects Trump challenge excluding undocumented immigrants from Census
The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the calculations used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. “At present,…
Fil-Am groups host blood, bone marrow donor registration drive in Historic Filipinotown
IN the spirit of giving and bayanihan, Filipino American organizations on Thursday, December 17 held a blood donation and bone marrow registration drive in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown for a…
COVID-19: New strain?
A NEW, 70 percent more rapidly transmissible, strain of SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) have been detected in up to three-fourths of cases in the United Kingdom today. PM Boris Johnson has ordered…
Stay-at-home order ‘very likely’ to be extended for certain California regions
GOING into the holiday week, California is still hitting record COVID-19 numbers, signaling that restrictions could remain in place into the new year. Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this week said…
LA County surpasses 600K virus cases heading into holiday week
Places of worship permitted to hold modified indoor services DAYS before Christmas, Los Angeles County reached another grim milestone of hitting over 600,000 positive cases since the pandemic began. Based…
PH Consulate in LA closed until Jan. 2021 due to at least 1 COVID case among staff
THE Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles will temporarily shut down operations for the rest of the year following at least one confirmed COVID-19 case among its personnel. The Consulate…
Dissecting the classic Noche Buena spread
IF the long list of Christmas trends and traditions was any indication, Filipinos love celebrating the yuletide season. Be it decorating the house with lanterns and ornaments as early as…
A Christmas Story: The Innkeeper’s untold tale
“As he told the story of that wondrous night to Luke, Joshua carefully removed himself from the narrative. It was to be between him and God alone.” JOSHUA was excited…
[OPINION] Ronald McDonald House: Home away from home during the holidays for families with chronically sick kids and premature babies
THE WORST crisis that parents (and grandparents) perhaps have to face is to see our helpless babies and children fight for their lives. If only we can take their place…
Essential services for essential workers in the pandemic
By Mark Hedin, Ethnic Media Services In a time of COVID-necessitated lockdowns, if you’re working, you’re essential. In Los Angeles County, no one should allow an employer to rob them…
Letty Lopez-Viado ascends to West Covina, CA mayorship, becoming first Filipina-Mexican American in top role
WEST Covina, long considered home to one of the largest Filipino American concentrations in Southern California, now has its first Filipina-Mexican American mayor. Leticia “Letty” Lopez-Viado, who previously served as…
‘Spirit of hope’: Fil-Am health care workers among first to receive COVID-19 vaccine in LA County
FOR the first time since the pandemic hit Los Angeles County, Anna Medrano walked into work hopeful. With a quick jab to her left arm, the Filipina American nurse practitioner…
IATF allows foreigners to re-enter PH
THE Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has approved the re-entry of foreigners who left the Philippines on December 17 and onwards, Malacañang announced Friday,…
LA residents urged to skip holiday gatherings as virus cases spike
WITH the Christmas holiday nearing, Los Angeles County officials are pleading with the public to stay home and limit gatherings as the capacity of Southern California’s intensive care units hit…
Duque: No promise of 10M vaccine doses in Pfizer deal
PHILIPPINE Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday, December 18, maintained that the discussions with Pfizer reportedly didn’t include supplying the country with 10 million doses of its vaccine. “I…
Envoy: 2 American firms ready to supply PH up to 25M doses of vaccine
TWO U.S. pharmaceutical firms are willing to supply the Philippines with their vaccines against the coronavirus by the second half of 2021, according to Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose…
12-year-old Filipino Costa Mesa boy killed by drunk driver
Driver held without bail and convicted of second-degree murder EARLIER this month, a young Filipino boy was killed while riding a bicycle with his father by a suspected drunk driver…
LA announces ‘GIVEN’ initiative to help 10,000 vulnerable households get food, other needs for holiday season
THE City of Los Angeles has launched the Grocery Intervention for Vital Emergency Needs (GIVEN) initiative to provide thousands of low-income Angelenos in need with $300 in cash assistance to…
Donaire ready to move on
MANILA — It would’ve been the stage to showcase his rediscovered killer’s instinct and new-found fountain of youth but Nonito Donaire Jr. said that he’s not griping over the cancellation…
DACA update
NOONG Nobyembre 14, 2020, ang United States District Court ng Eastern District of New York ay nag-isyu ng Memorandum and Order sa patuloy na alitan tungkol sa Deferred Action for…
Year-end tax plan for December 2020
WHILE we advocated accelerating deductions and postponing income in prior year tax plans, we cannot apply these traditional tactics anymore. Both COVID and a change of the guards at the…
Protecting employees who take medications
When a drug test may constitute disability discrimination “Under California law and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employee who is taking medication for a disability is protected from…
The young, not so young and not so old need Chapter 7 debt relief for fresh start
THE young: Clients are in their late 20s, the epitome of youth. They have their whole life ahead of time. They married three years ago. Right after they got married,…
Should I create a will and a living trust during this pandemic?
THE COVID-19 Pandemic is a scary reality which affects everyone globally and has shut down the global economy. Individuals over 60 years old and individual that are immune compromised are…
Celebrating faith and love this Christmas and New Year
IT will be a different Christmas and New Year’s celebration this year—one we never thought about in our generation. It will be Christmas and New Year without the crowds at…
Unemployed due to the pandemic? How bankruptcy can help
Bankruptcy has always been a last resort for people who are struggling with debts that they can no longer pay. Most people would do what they can on their own…