EXASPERATED — this is how many Americans, like myself, feel as a divide deepens among the country’s residents, especially since President Donald Trump first ran for office and is now running for a second term. What is more troubling is not just about ideology and policy differences. While it may seem that we are all…
With the 2020 Census response rate for Tagalog-speaking households in Los Angeles County at 69.6%, Filipino American community members are still encouraged to fill out their questionnaires before the deadline at the end of September. Heading into the final month, households identified as Tagalog/Filipino-speaking responded at a higher rate than the county’s 62.2% average, according…
THIS week, Los Angeles County began allowing certain hair salons and barber shops to operate indoors. Effective Wednesday, Sept. 2, hair salons and barber shops may resume indoor services as long as they don’t exceed 25% occupancy and the business owners fully comply with safety protocols: 6 feet of physical distancing and face coverings for…
With the coronavirus pandemic hitting the Philippines hard, Filipinos have started flocking to Facebook groups to trade their possessions for food, a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) found. “Online bartering groups have provided a lifeline to…Filipinos hit hard by the country’s months-long virus restrictions that started in March and have sent the economy plunging into…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent a letter out to state officials this week asking them to prepare to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine by November 1, two days before the presidential election. “CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities, and, if necessary, asks that you consider waiving…
FILIPINO-American immigration activist and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas and Filipina-Australian entrepreneur Melanie Perkins landed on Fortune Magazine’s all-new expansive 40 Under 40 lists that were released Wednesday, September 2. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many calls to end social injustice and racial inequality that shaped this year, Fortune stepped away from its…
THE University of California (UC) system will no longer be able to use SAT and ACT scores in evaluating its applicants for undergraduate admissions or scholarships, a superior court judge ruled this week. The ruling on Monday, August 31 comes long after critics of the tests claimed they inadvertently favored students from wealthier families over…
AS I often say, we’re living in a polarized society. There are so many conflicts and divisions in our country today, especially during this presidential election campaign. Protests and riots continue to arise, such as those in Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, causing more violence, killings, differences of opinions, and deep divisions among politicians and…
Ang green card holder ay maaaring mag-file ng N-400 Application for Naturalization kung ang kanyang green card ay may 5 taon na bago ang filing (3 taon kung ang green card ay nakuha dahil sa kasal sa U.S. citizen at sila ay nagsasama pa din). Ang aplikante para sa naturalization ay kailangang magpakita na sa…
DEAR Attorney Tan, My US Citizen mother filed an I-130 immigrant petition on my behalf, which has a priority date in February 2000 and which has been approved. She filed the I-130 petition after I came to the US in 1999 as a tourist from the Philippines. Since my arrival, I have lived in the…
THE U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced the settlement of an age discrimination lawsuit against Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a NASA field center located in Pasadena, CA. JPL is NASA’s primary planetary spacecraft center. It designs and makes planetary robotic spacecraft and operates NASA’s Deep Space Network. In the lawsuit, the EEOC accused…
WHO would have thought that we would have to go through a pandemic of these proportions in our beloved America during our lifetime? It’s not even mildly implied in the Nostradamus quatrains. Certainly, there was a reference to the September 11 attack by a man in a turban. But nothing mentioned by Nostradamus about 200,000…
Consider this common factual situation. You are over 21 years old and your US citizen parent petitions you while you are inside the United States. Since this is a preference category, you have to wait many years for your priority date to be current. As the years go by, your petitioning parent dies which in…
YOU have just received an invitation to the offices of the Internal Revenue Service. They want to examine your return. Don’t panic. All these years, you have stashed funds for a rainy day. This is a rainy day. Here are tips to cover you from the rain: 1. Prepare. This is the best line of…
CONVICTED U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton on Friday, September 4, asked the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 to dismiss the motion for reconsideration filed by the family of slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude to block his early release. Pemberton’s lawyer, Rowena Flores, filed a six-page opposition asking the court to deny the…
By Gloria T. Caoile, Director of Civic Engagement / Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance NV THIS Labor Day is unlike what we have experienced in our lifetimes. While the COVID-19 pandemic has eliminated our time-honored tradition of parades and picnics, it has not dissuaded Asian Pacific American workers from celebrating Labor Day and reflecting on…
By Rep. Dina Titus LABOR Day is a time to celebrate the industriousness, talent, and perseverance of the American workforce. This year, we have seen these qualities on display more than ever. Our frontline workers have donned scrubs and saved lives. Some of them have put on gloves and bagged groceries. Others have equipped themselves…
By Caroline Aoyagi-Stom / Energized by Edison Editor On the heels of a record-breaking, week-long heat wave, SoCal residents will need to brace for more high temperatures this weekend and early next week in time for the Labor Day holiday. The California Independent System Operator has issued a Flex Alert for this Saturday, September 5…
A MEASURE seeking to declare September 11 as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, has been approved on its 3rd and final reading by the House of Representatives. HB 7137, authored by Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ria Fariñas, Ilocos Norte 2nd District…
THE early release of convicted U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton was put on hold on Thursday, September 3 following a motion for reconsideration filed by the victim’s family. The American serviceman was convicted of homicide on December 1, 2015, for killing transgender Jennifer Laude in 2014. He was sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment….
For Filipina American rapper Ruby Ibarra, 2020 was slated to be more of this balancing act as in the past few years — juggling live performances after work and on the weekends, while fine-tuning her sophomore album. Before COVID-19 hit California, the 29-year-old did two sold-out shows at the Getty Center in Los Angeles in…
Filipino talents across the diaspora have graced the stage of NBC’s America’s Got Talent (AGT). Marcelito Pomoy wowed the judges and the audience for AGT: The Champions last season and Angelica Hale made history as the first contestant to earn Golden Buzzer wins in the two seasons she joined. The all-male hip-hop dance group called…
Sebastian Reid, born and raised in Manila, is the youngest child of award-winning actress Hilda Koronel. He is the man behind Sébre Studio. Reid went to Xavier School in San Juan and moved to the South Bay in California at the age of 14. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Game Art from Full Sail University…
MONTHS into the quarantine, Angeline Quinto has found herself musing about her journey, going back to how she was when she started in showbiz, and bonding with her Mama Bob, her adoptive mom. “My goal back then was simple: I just wanted to have a regular job, so I could help Mama Bob and provide…
MALACAÑANG on Wednesday, September 2, admitted that there is wisdom behind Senator Panfilo Lacson’s bill authorizing “designated survivors,” should the top four leaders of the Philippine government perish in any occasion wherein they’re all present. “Well, you know, I think it’s based on a TV series ‘Designated Survivor.’ And while the series is based on fiction…
WATER is life. Without it, there would be no life on Planet Earth. The normal lean adult body is made up of about 70% water (50% intracellular, 15% interstitial, and 5% in the blood plasma) and only 30% solid mass. This is an amazing fact which many of us don’t realize. Drinking at least 8…
DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel, I was petitioned by my sister in 1990, and immigrated to the U.S. in 2013. Unfortunately, I had to leave behind my eldest child because she had aged out. I have been hoping and praying something could be done for her. Could she be covered by the Child Status Protection Act? Is…
MULTI-AWARDED broadcast journalist Ted Failon on Monday, August 31, made his final appearance on ABS-CBN’s shows “TV Patrol” and “Failon Ngayon sa TeleRadyo.” The network on Sunday, Aug. 30, confirmed that the journalist was leaving after working there for 30 years. “The closure of ABS-CBN’s radio broadcast operations led to his painful decision and we…
