SACRAMENTO – THE National Asian American Coalition (NAAC), the National Diversity Coalition (NDC), pastors, housing advocates and members of the state legislature’s Senate and Assembly Republican Caucuses celebrated the recent court victory on the return of the $331 million to the National Home Mortgage Special Fund with a press conference and victory rally in front…
DESPITE reports of an impending recession going into 2020, several Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Las Vegas argue that their businesses have been strong since President Donald Trump took office. Members of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce, together with former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, led a roundtable discussion on Tuesday, August…
Seven Filipino brands, under the group FashionPhilippines, showcased the diversity of materials and outstanding craftsmanship during the Project Womens trade show in Las Vegas this past weekend, August 12 to 14. The Project Womens participation of Fashion Philippines was organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions arm of…
ON August 14, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule governing the public charge grounds of inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The rule is set to go in effect on October 15, 2019. What is the “new” Public Charge rule? The DHS final rule is not new, but it does…
A Los Angeles-based Filipino artist recently completed a new mural in the California State University, Sacramento campus. Eliseo Silva’s “Magkasama Tayo Aangat (Together We Rise),” unveiled on Sunday, August 18, is a tribute to Filipino migration, particularly by Filipina women, in the United States and the merging of the Filipino and American cultures. “Like my…
EACH month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date…
Voting can be as quick as a pen stroke or as easy as a tap of a computer screen, yet the simple act is often taken for granted in America. It became a right I lost when I was convicted on felony charges and found myself in state prison several years ago. After serving a…
Einstein wrote “the force from gravity is not instantaneous, as it travels the same speed as light, so light from the sun would still be upon the earth momentarily. Therefore, if the sun disappeared, we would remain blissfully unaware for eight minutes that inevitable doom was upon us.” Life on earth would then cease, except…
“ There are definitely some enemies in my life I definitely would wish celebrity on…” — Gary Coleman Star of the sitcom, ‘Diff’rent Strokes,’ who suffered a reversal of fortune and died at 42 (Part 1 of 2) IN 2010, a young boy who climbed Mount Everest gained a spot in the Guinness Book of…
TO say that Gina Lopez led a colorful life would be a severe understatement. The former environment and natural resources secretary passed away on Monday, August 19, due to multiple organ failure after a brave battle with brain cancer. She was 65. The second of seven children of Eugenio Lopez, Jr. and Conchita La’O, Regina…
[EDITOR’S Note: A full version of this article was previously published in Balikbayan Magazine’s October-November 2011 issue] “Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility. When a river breaks at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on, as we encounter our own waterfalls,…
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday, August 19, defended its proposal to restore the law against subversion. According to DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya, the Duterte administration is different from the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, who used the law to prosecute thousands of critics. “This is not the authoritarian…
‘Transfer of Sentenced Persons’ to give convicts option to serve time in their home country Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday, August 19, called for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to pursue more Transfer of Sentenced Persons agreements with other countries, pointing out the efforts of the government to help Filipino drug convicts abroad while…
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday, August 19, ordered the filing of a diplomatic protest against China over the passage of its warships in Philippine waters. In a tweet, Locsin directed the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of Asia and Pacific Affairs to file the protest after it was reported by the Armed…
THE United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has defined “public charge” as an individual who is likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, as demonstrated by either the receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense. This has been a policy of the…
by Phil Galewitz Five years after Congress passed a law to reduce unnecessary MRIs, CT scans and other expensive diagnostic imaging tests that could harm patients and waste money, federal officials have yet to implement it. The law requires that doctors consult clinical guidelines set by the medical industry before Medicare will pay for many…
One of Asia’s best female chefs is headed to Los Angeles with a two-day pop-up at Grand Central Market’s Filipino stall, Sari Sari Store. Hong Kong-based May Chow, who was named Asia’s best female chef in 2017, will be bringing a piece of her popular outpost Little Bao to the indoor food market on Friday,…
Inspired by the way customers demonstrate simple acts of kindness on a daily basis at McDonald’s restaurants, McCafé announced on Tuesday, August 20 it is rewarding good people with a good cup of McCafé coffee. McCafé It Forward is a three-day, pay-it-forward program that is designed to spread goodness across the country one golden cup…
States and organizations around the country are reacting to the public charge rule released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this week, which would affect immigrants who have received certain public benefits. California, Oregon, Maine and the District of Columbia are among the states that have filed a lawsuit on Friday against the…
National advocacy organizations that sought the return of $331 million to a fund for struggling homeowners attended a victory rally in Sacramento on Wednesday, August 14. The National Asian American Coalition and the National Diversity Coalition, which led the lawsuit against then-California Governor Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats who diverted the funds for debt repayment,…
At least 6,847 suspected drug offenders have been killed in alleged shootouts in association with President Rodrigo Duterte’s three-year crackdown on illegal drugs, according to the latest count by the Philippine National Police (PNP). Data from July 1, 2016 to July 31 of this year — presented during the National Summit on Crime Prevention at…
The United States and the Philippines on Thursday, August 15 signed an agreement to establish a P520-million center in the latter country to combat counterterrorism. Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde and U.S. Embassy in the Philippines deputy chief of mission John Law signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of their…
YOU want to be young? But you can’t be — older is what we all get. Getting old is a natural thing and we must not be afraid of the natural. Trees, animals, and everything else that is alive age. I am not afraid to look old. I don’t know indifference, I ignore bitterness. If…
The U.S. congresswoman and 2020 Democratic candidate on what the Trump administration is getting wrong on foreign affairs AMONG the pool of Democrats vying for the White House, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is on the younger side but that doesn’t mean she’s politically naive. During a recent call with ethnic media, Gabbard, 38,…
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.— After seeing two schools close down in the city over the past 19 years, an elementary school named after a Filipino Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigration activist was officially opened in a dedication ceremony on Thursday, August 15 attended by district officials, faculty and community members. The newly-built Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School…
THE trailer of the movie “Hello, Love, Goodbye” says it all. Or so I thought. I’ve seen countless local and foreign films “dressed” as a love story but they are actually “travel movies” sans the documentary — the kind where the plot focuses on the location whilst putting a bit of the cliché love story…
MANY people believe that once they obtain a green card through marriage, they are “home free” as far as their legal status is concerned. They are now green card holders. They can get divorced, remarry, file a petition for their new spouse, seek naturalization, etc. Imagine a green card holder’s surprise when USCIS “reopened” his…
